So what happens if the San Francisco 49ers make it to the Super Bowl in the next few years, with Michael Crabtree leading the team? With the whole team just bust out in song and dance?

Coach Mike Singletary is known for his Super Bowl Shuffle…

And Michael Crabtree is known for Crank That Crabtree…

Can you imagine if these two collaborated on the ultimate music video?

Michael Crabtree might not see much action on the field during OTA’s, but that doesn’t mean he can’t develop into an NFL wide receiver from the sidelines. Crabtree has one of the best wide receivers in NFL history on his team… Isaac Bruce. Bruce has 14 years of experience, 4 Pro Bowls and nearly 15,000 receiving yards under his belt.

Once thing you notice when you look at Isaac Bruce’s stats is his level of consistency. The dude is like the Cal Ripken Jr. of football. In his 14 year career, he’s played in 12+ games in twelve of the seasons. The only time Bruce missed significant time was 1998.

As Crabtree rehabs his foot this offseason, his durability will be under a lot of scrutiny. Will Crabtree be one of those players that missed 4 games every year with nagging injuries? Or can he learn from Bruce and condition himself and play through pain?

Will Michael Crabtree Start Week 1?

Do you think Michael Crabtree’s foot will be healthy enough to start week 1? 49ers beat writer Matt Barrows isn’t so sure he’s a lock to start.

Crabtree’s foot rehab and inexperience in the offense has him behind Josh Morgan at the “X.” Barrows expects the Niners to move Morgan or Crabtree to “Z” if they’re the top two receivers in training camp, but for now Crabtree is a backup with a lot to prove and a very talented player ahead of him.

Has there ever been a time when a WR taken in the top 10 did not start week 1… other than injury? If Crabtree is 100% ready to go I would expect him to be on the field the entire game. Inexperience for WRs isn’t as big of a problem as it may be for a quarterback. Crabtree can run routes and catch the ball better then anyone on the 49ers, even if he has never played a down in the NFL.

There have been plenty of rookie WRs to start day 1 and make an impact. What’s your take? Should they hold him back some, or let him loose?

Since the combine, nothing has gone right for Michael Crabtree. He’s failed to run for the scouts, he underwent surgery, and now two teams in the Top 10 that were looking at WR ended up signing free agents.

Almost every expert had Michael Crabtree going to the Seahawks No. 4 overall, but they just signed TJ Houshmanzadeh. The Cincinatti Bengals at No. 6 then seemed like a likely landing place for Crabtree until they just signed Laverneous Coles. This leaves the Raiders at No. 7 and the Jaguars at No. 8 at possibly landing spots. But even those teams have far more pressing needs then WR.

It’s not just free agency though. Many people are starting to doubt Crabtree’s durability. They also found out that he’s really 6′1″, not 6′3″ as was listed in his media guide. I love the guy, but things just aren’t looking good for him. Maybe it’s just a smokescreen for some team to move up and grab him.

Anyway, at least his surgery went well.

From Rotoworld:

Texas Tech WR Michael Crabtree underwent “successful” surgery to repair a stress fracture in his foot Wednesday. We’ve never heard of unsuccessful surgery, but this sounds good. Crabtree faces 8-10 weeks of recovery and should be healthy by mid-May. It’s worth noting that NFL Network’s Charley Casserly reported most teams drafting in the top ten encouraged Crabtree to have surgery ASAP. That shows they are genuinely happy with Crabtree’s tape and not as worried about his 40 time.

Today is National Signing Day for high school football players. Today is the day they officially sign the letter of intent to play for a specific school. While Michael Crabtree is off the the NFL, this day brings back memories of his decision to come play football at Texas Tech.

Crabtree was part of the 2006 recruiting class. Rivals had him ranked as a 4-star athlete and the 16th ranked player at his position. They may has missed the boat on this one. Crabtree has been the best WR in college football for the past two years.

Check out the list of players who were ranked higher then Crabtree coming out of high school. Of course Rivals listed him as an “athlete” and not assigned to any specific position. That’s because he played some QB and RB in high school.

Other college choices on Crabtree’s list included Baylor, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas A&M… you think the Sooners would have liked having Crabtree on their roster this year?

In the end, Crabtree’s decision to come play at Texas Tech was one of the best decisions he could have made. They had a high flying offense led by a great college QB. And now he’ll be a top 5 pick in the NFL.

With all the talk on this blog about Michael Crabtree getting a shot at the Heisman, we kind of pushed aside the Biletnikoff. Well, Crabtree (and Harrell for that matter) were not invited to NYC for the Heisman Ceremony tomorrow night. Crabtree said he was surprised by the news the day before that teammate Harrell hadn’t been invited to the Heisman ceremony.

“I was really shocked,” Crabtree said. “He’s alright. ..I said, ‘Let’s go out there and play in the bowl game.”

Thankfully, the Heisman isn’t the only award around here.

Texas Tech sophomore Michael Crabtree became the first two-time winner of the Biletnikoff Award, presented to the top wide receiver in the nation. Crabtree, who earned the honor Thursday night, beat Oklahoma State’s Dez Bryant and Missouri’s Jeremy Maclin for the award.

During this past season, Crabtree had 93 receptions for 1,135 yards with 18 touchdowns, tied for second-most in the country.

The defining moment of Crabtree’s season came November 1 when he caught a 28- yard touchdown pass from Graham Harrell with one second remaining to give the Red Raiders a 39-33 win over then-No. 1 Texas.

“It was a great year to be around here,” said Crabtree. “I feel like we had fun. That’s what counts.”

The father of Texas Tech All-America wide receiver Michael Crabtree said the family took out a $1 million insurance policy on his son before this season.

“We got that $1 million policy that covers you in case you get injured,” Michael Crabtree Sr. said Friday afternoon. “We got it through the NCAA.”

In 1990, the NCAA implemented the Exceptional Student-Athlete Disability Insurance program. The program states that it enables qualifying student-athletes — as approved by the program administrators — to purchase a disability insurance contract with pre-approved financing, if necessary.

Though they’ve been around for almost 20 years, insurance policies for collegiate athletes became famous when Willis McGahee blew out his knee five years ago or so in the final game of his college career. College football is like that though… you can be a star 1 minute, and then in 1 play have your entire career jeopardized… costing you millions of dollars in the NFL Draft.

Michael Crabtree himself hasn’t said much about declaring for the NFL. His father though seems to be doing a lot of talking. “At first he said he was going to declare, but I don’t know what he’s doing now,” the elder Crabtree said of his son’s NFL aspirations. “I think he’ll put his name out there and see.”

I would still say there’s a 99% chance that he is going to the NFL.

Michael Crabtree told Red Raider Sports yesterday that he plans to come back for his junior season. Hard to believe right? Well, here’s the quote.

“Yeah,” he responded when asked if he would be returning for his junior season.

But surely, there must be some consideration of entering the NFL?

“No, not at all,” responded Crabtree when asked that question.

“I’m taking every game like I did last year, one game at a time. I’m really not worried too much about the future right now because that’s out of my reach. I’m just worried about what I can control, and that’s college football.”

I don’t buy for one second that Michael Crabtree wants to return to Texas Tech for another season. He does know that he’ll be a Top 10 pick in the NFL Draft next year and in 2010 there may be a rookie cap? Gotta come out now while the guaranteed millions are there.

Sure we all wish he would stay so we can enjoy watching him play another season and break even more records, but he needs to do what’s best for himself and his family. These guys only have so many years they can play football… get the money while it’s there.

Texas Tech is only a handful of wins away from getting a BCS National Championship birth. The Big 12 South is so congested that the Red Raiders will probably have to be undefeated to get in. They have a big matchup with No. 5 Oklahoma this weekend. A win here would be huge and kill the Sooners BCS Championship dreams.

Michael Crabtree is going to try his absolute hardest to get his team into the Title game. He still thinks about the time when his High School squad missed out on States.

“From my years in high school, I feel like I didn’t give it all I could give,” Crabtree said. “I feel like I could have gone to state if I would have given it my all. I didn’t want to feel like that again – should’ve, could’ve, would’ve. I’m at that time right now that I’m remembering that, so every time I go on the field, it’s like I’m giving it my all because I’m not going to feel that same way I felt in high school. I don’t want any regrets.”

I have no doubt that Michael Crabtree won’t give it 100% on gamedays and lead this team to the promise land. The Red Raiders season feels magical in a way, almost like it’s their destiny.

Michael Crabtree and the Texas Tech Red Raiders have a much need week off this weekend. After playing two top 10 teams, including former No. 1 Texas over the last two weeks, anyone would be ready for a little time off. Especially when they’re next opponent is Oklahoma!

Crabtree is going to use this week off to heal up a bit. “The ankle is getting better,” Crabtree said. “It probably won’t even be hurting at all come the next game.”

When asked further how things are going:

“It’s been all right, but a lot of people have been going at my foot, so every time I get hit they try to twist it or whatever,” Crabtree said. “But it hasn’t been enough to keep me from playing.”

The Red Raiders will need all their weapons healthy and ready to roll come next week at Oklahoma. Everything will be riding on that game and the entire nation will be watching.