According to the Niners 10th overall pick in the 2009 draft, Michael Crabtree, he is demanding to be paid $23.5 million (how much Darius Heyward-Bey got from the Raiders at 7th overall) or he will sit out the season and re enter the draft next season. For more background info go here.
I say, let him walk, call his bluff, he isn't going to help the team THAT much. Please remember that the Niners are a running team to start with and they did just fine the 2nd half of the season last year after Singletary settled in.
The Niners need to call Crabtree's bluff and tell him that they hate to see him go, but if he must then they won't stop him. Crabtree would be a fool to sit out for an entire year and expect to be the same athlete re-entering the draft the year after- in fact, he would probably make LESS money the next year he was drafted in 2010 because teams would have doubts in drafting him, whether he was the same athlete he was leaving college after sitting out an entire year, therefore dropping his stock to well after 10th overall.
Yes, I am biased because I would be furious that the Niners would have wasted a pick and wouldn't receive any compensation pick (to my knowledge). But honestly making this decision would hurt Michael Crabtree much more than it would hurt the Niners. Choosing to sit out this season would be a huge obstacle to jumpstarting such a bright and promising career. Can you really imagine Crabtree establishing himself in the NFL as an elite receiver down the road if he sat out an entire season and not staying in top physical shape? Where is he planning on keeping conditioned? The AFL? Even if a team would take him for a one year rental, do not tell me that he would face competition good enough to improve him as a player, not even mentioning how much football knowledge he would miss out on and drastically slow down his development as a player.
So in the end, who has more to lose here? If Crabtree sits out this season and pouts all the way to the 2010 draft, he will have:
1) Lost money in the process, both in one lost year of NFL salary as well as the amount of his eventual contract
2) Deteriorated as an athlete by not facing NFL competition, assuming he played any football at all
3) Completely slowed down his process of development as a player being away from the game for a whole year
and 4) Most importantly, he would have lost the respect of many, many people both within the league and with the fans
Crabtree came into the draft with questions about his attitude and his personality as a diva, and for a brief time he silenced those critics after being drafted lower than expected and saying that he would merely take it as motivation and work harder. Now, with this whole fiasco unraveling, does he really think that teams would be willing to spend a pick anywhere close to as high as 10th on him after he sits out an entire year PLUS he has questionable signability and carrys the emotional baggage of a young T.O.?
So, to sum it up please get over yourself and get your ass into training camp Mr. Crabtree. Be thankful that you have the opportunity to play a sport for a living. Be gracious to the team who drafted you and is paying you market value, not even lowballing you. You were drafted 10th overall and you will be paid accordingly. You have proven nothing to have such ridiculous demands, but if you insist on being difficult then go ahead and walk. I assure you that you have much more to lose here than the San Francisco 49ers.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Business as Usual
“Sports is a business” has almost become a cliché that we fans hear from athletes whenever they are having contract negotiation troubles, or a teammate is traded, but rarely do we really read into their words.
Sports have evolved so much in the past few years, in every sense. A few years ago, players made a few hundred thousand dollars, these days, players are receiving record breaking hundred-million dollar contracts, such as Mark Teixeira and CC Sabathia, who both just received contracts worth over $100 million from the Yankees this past offseason. Just the other day at the MLB Network was playing the 1977 World Series, in which the Dodgers played the Yankees. While watching the game, I noticed how there was absolutely no advertisements around the stadium on the outfield walls, behind home plate, or anywhere else. It got me thinking about how much money had gone into sports in just the past 30 years. That year, 1977, one of the highest contracts was Reggie Jackson’s, Mr. October, who made a then groundbreaking one million dollars.
The point of all this is, is that once marketing and advertisement evolved to the point of bombarding consumers constantly, in this case during their form of entertainment, sports was the natural beneficiary. Advertising dollars allowed owners to do more with their teams, whether it was improving stadiums, hiring more workers, or most importantly; paying higher contracts to players. As this went on over time, higher contracts snowballed to the point of where we are today. Owners may complain, and fans may say it is ridiculous to pay a player that much money, but the fact of the matter is that it is corporations and the owners who are at fault, not the athletes. For every dollar that these athletes make, an owner is benefiting more than double.
For better or worse, professional sports have evolved beyond entertainment. We must take the good with the bad, because despite how corporate sports have become, we the fans have also benefited through the up to the second media coverage that sports have attracted, or even the creation of fantasy sports, allowing fans to get even closer to the game. Was it not for the money that was thrown into sports, all of that would never have become possible today. Sports have become a business, but it has also become one of the most fascinating and captivating forms of entertainment. For many people, sports has almost become an obsession, constantly seeking the newest news or keeping an ear to the ground about their favorite team’s next move. As fans we may not always like the fact that someone is making ludicrous amounts of money as we shell out five dollars for a hotdog to watch the game, but in all honesty I wouldn’t have it any other way, because I love what sports have become.
Sports have evolved so much in the past few years, in every sense. A few years ago, players made a few hundred thousand dollars, these days, players are receiving record breaking hundred-million dollar contracts, such as Mark Teixeira and CC Sabathia, who both just received contracts worth over $100 million from the Yankees this past offseason. Just the other day at the MLB Network was playing the 1977 World Series, in which the Dodgers played the Yankees. While watching the game, I noticed how there was absolutely no advertisements around the stadium on the outfield walls, behind home plate, or anywhere else. It got me thinking about how much money had gone into sports in just the past 30 years. That year, 1977, one of the highest contracts was Reggie Jackson’s, Mr. October, who made a then groundbreaking one million dollars.
The point of all this is, is that once marketing and advertisement evolved to the point of bombarding consumers constantly, in this case during their form of entertainment, sports was the natural beneficiary. Advertising dollars allowed owners to do more with their teams, whether it was improving stadiums, hiring more workers, or most importantly; paying higher contracts to players. As this went on over time, higher contracts snowballed to the point of where we are today. Owners may complain, and fans may say it is ridiculous to pay a player that much money, but the fact of the matter is that it is corporations and the owners who are at fault, not the athletes. For every dollar that these athletes make, an owner is benefiting more than double.
For better or worse, professional sports have evolved beyond entertainment. We must take the good with the bad, because despite how corporate sports have become, we the fans have also benefited through the up to the second media coverage that sports have attracted, or even the creation of fantasy sports, allowing fans to get even closer to the game. Was it not for the money that was thrown into sports, all of that would never have become possible today. Sports have become a business, but it has also become one of the most fascinating and captivating forms of entertainment. For many people, sports has almost become an obsession, constantly seeking the newest news or keeping an ear to the ground about their favorite team’s next move. As fans we may not always like the fact that someone is making ludicrous amounts of money as we shell out five dollars for a hotdog to watch the game, but in all honesty I wouldn’t have it any other way, because I love what sports have become.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
