This Crabtree guy...he's such a bad guy. I mean, he robbed three old ladies last night while they were on their electric scooters. He then ran over a group of Mormons riding bicycles and laughed about it. On his way home, he threw a pipe bomb into the post office, and then drunkenly jumped up and down on his neighbor's car (OOPS! Wrong 49er. My bad.).
This is one bad, bad guy, that Michael Crabtree. He's evil.
Have 99.99% of the board lost their mind. THIS IS A CONTRACT NEGOTIATION!!!!!! What is so hard to understand? He's not out there shooting baby seals, dumping toxic waste into riverbeds (at least we hope not). His agent is negotiating a contract. And Crabtree has not stated one word. People are starting to compare him to T.O., who runs to every camera with his sad story. Where are all the Crabtree interviews, where he is angry, crying, complaining? There are none.
Has Crabtree come forward to state anything? No. Has his agent come forward to state that they are threatening to have him return to the draft? No. Have the Niners come forward to say that he is threatening to re-enter the draft? No. In fact, the only person is a cousin. We don't know if Crabtree gave authorization for the cousin to speak out. Maybe he and Crabtree were having a conversation about the matter, and Crabtree had no idea that his cousin would speak out.
In other words, WE DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!!! So, it would probably be wise to withhold judgment. Unless we hear word that Crabtree authorized his cousin to say something, or Crabtree or his agent talk with the media, then we don't know.
Jumping to conclusions usually gets one in trouble. Along with millions of Americans today, I automatically bought the incorrect ProFootballTalk.com story that PARKER had threatened to have Crabtree re-enter the draft. It has since been debunked by Parker, the Niners, and veteran reporters who have covered Parker for years. He doesn't operate that way is what Len Pastabelli, John Clayton and others have stated.
As for the sanctity of the slotting system....This is the biggest piece of sloppy journalism that I've heard all day, some from people who should know better. Where are the angry voices over the "incorrect/out of the slot" compensation for Sanchez, Freeman, Darrelle Revis, Larry Fitzgerald (he received more money under Parker than the number two and number one pick, Eli Manning in his contract). HOW DARE THE AGENT DEMAND MORE THAN HIS SLOTTED AMOUNT!!!! There are numerous examples in this draft of "incorrect slotting", and if you look at the 2007 draft, then you have pure heresy. I can't believe the NFL still exists after those "slotted" contracts.
The bottom line is that there are circumstances which cause the slotting to not be so pefectly systematic. Does the sun still rise, the world still rotate? Yes.
Quick, show some outrage over the Sanchez contract!! ARGH!!! IT IS GOING TO RUIN FOOTBALL!!!
The bottom line is that both sides are in a contract negotiation. This is not the Palestinian Arabs versus the Israeli Jews. This is not the Shia versus the Sunni. It is a contract negotiation.
I encourage members on this board to reject the easy to come by snap judgment, based on emotion, and to read the CBA, research the history of draft slotting, research the history of Eugene Parker, and then come to some rational conclusion. To simply become emotional...is mindless. And the board deserves more than mindless, emotional drivel.
I have copied and pasted this to every beat writer in America, and you may now feel free to report me to the Obama Administration, care of the Misinformation Ministry.
Cheers.
P.S. Have I mentioned that this is a contract negotiation?
