When the Tennessee Titans and Pittsburgh Steelers kickoff at 8:30 p.m. tomorrow, the NFL regular season will have officially started without Michael Crabtree, the San Francisco 49ers' first round pick of the 2009 NFL Draft.\nCrabtree, who entered the draft following his sophomore season at Texas Tech, is reportedly holding out for more money.\nI'm not going to pretend to know the business or legal side to these matters or the importance that agents place on getting their clients top dollar, but I think the notion of Crabtree holding out this long is preposterous.\nCrabtree, who felt he was the draft's best receiver and should've been selected (and paid) accordingly, was offended when he wasn't the first receiver taken during the April draft. That honor went to Maryland's Darrius Heyward-Bey, who went to the Oakland Raiders as the seventh pick in the draft. Crabtree was taken a measly three picks later as the 10th pick by the 49ers. Maybe his ego wouldn't have been so inflated if it wasn't for the Mel Kipers and Todd McShays of world, but that's for another column. The point is, he can't claim he's worth a certain amount of money. That is for the 49ers to decide. I know it's hard to imagine, but the 49ers are - believe it or not - Crabtree's boss. Would Crabtree be demanding top dollar from his boss if he were working at any other job, for which he has not logged any hours? That's right, Crabtree has not shown up for training camp or participated in any preseason games.\nFourth-years, could you see yourselves getting hired for a job after graduation and then banging on your boss's door, demanding to be paid like you're the nation's best engineer, chemist or economist without working one hour? I surely hope you would be more humble.\nAnd Michael, would you rather be in Heyward-Bey's position, playing for the Raiders? I know neither team is especially attractive, but at least the 49ers seem to be moving in the right direction under coach Mike Singletary. The Raiders are a laughingstock who are owned by a dinosaur.\nWhatever happened to playing for love of the game? You know, like Crabtree was doing just several months ago in college? Now, he has the audacity to demand more money when he didn't earn a penny last season. No matter what he makes, it will be millions more than he made in college. He should be thankful for being one of the most freakish athletes of the 2009 draft and should take whatever is bestowed upon him. There are a million young boys who dream of becoming professional athletes and who would kill to have the chance to play as possibly the most electrifying receiver in all of football, entertaining audiences all over the nation and continuously landing on SportsCenter's "Top 10 Plays" segment.\nCrabtree's 6-year-old self is probably in disbelief right now. Players such as former Wahoo receiver Kevin Ogletree would probably be slapping Crabtree in the face right about now. Ogletree went undrafted in April and worked his butt off as a free agent with the Dallas Cowboys, eventually earning a spot on the roster. Nothing was guaranteed to him, and he has earned every penny of what he makes. And I bet it doesn't come close to whatever is being offered to Crabtree. Beyond football, the lack of perspective is astonishing. Several unemployed people in this country would love to find a minimum-wage paying job right now, and Crabtree is greedily holding out for more money to play a game that I thought he loved.\nIn case you missed it in passing earlier, Crabtree was only a sophomore when he entered the draft. He decided to forgo his final two seasons of college to play in the NFL. This makes his holdout look worse for two reasons. First, if Crabtree thought he was talented enough to come out of college that early to play in the NFL, then why has he supposedly prepared to sit out the entire season? Second, how can you come out of college that early and then automatically expect to be the top receiver in the draft? Maybe he should have considered staying in school one more year to build up his reputation. I realize Crabtree could've gotten injured if he was in college this year, but he isn't doing himself any favors by not training with the 49ers before the season. And that brings me to my final point. Crabtree is setting himself up for failure with this holdout. Should he sign sometime soon, I believe he wouldn't be seeing the field during the 49ers game the following weekend. He will have a lot of catching up to do, including getting into football shape and learning the playbook. He is stunting his growth as a player with this holdout - I bet he's not as good as he was at the end of the 2008 college season.\nMichael, sign the contract, play some football, and if you play as well as I'm sure you think you will, you will actually earn the extra money you are asking for.\nUltimately, I just don't get it. Do you really not want to play this season, Michael, just because you think you should be getting more than the millions you would be making already? It's a real shame that we may not be treated to watching a receiver as gifted as you in the NFL this season.
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