Game Recognizes Game: Money Doesn't Grow On Crabtrees

Michael Crabtree must not realize the world is in the throes of a recession. Or maybe he does, and he's internalized the concept that your chance of a come-up may truly come around just once in a lifetime in this not-so-brave, new world.

Whatever his rationale or your interpretation, no one can deny Crabtree seems to have some rather large cojones. As much as the notion he's consistently turned down the chance to earn millions of dollars, that observation is based on his apparent belief he can do even better by overthrowing the system that's made all that largesse possible.

The NFL pay scale has long operated based on a "slotting scale" when it comes to top draft picks. Translation? The guys selected before you tend to make more money and the ones that hear their names called after you make less. It's a simple but ironclad modus operandi.

So much so that even someone as young and gifted as M.C. himself might happen across a blight or two in seeking to alter the landscape. Still, the smart money seems to think Crabtree will indeed walk away from the Niners' five-year, $20 million offer, sit out the season and reenter the draft next year in hopes of commanding even greater riches, which, in all honestly, strikes me as, well, not so smart.

Let me preface that by saying I'd be the last person to advocate on the side of management. In fact, I'm so diametrically opposed to being a company man, I'm absolutely of the belief that any business person willing to pay you millions of dollars to play sports, or anything else for that matter, is almost certainly making boatloads more off all your toil and sweat.

So by all means, get paid Mike. We know the future ain't what it use to be. But I'm just saying, $20 mil? --Glenn Minnus