Crabgreed

I called out San Francisco 49er holdout in last week's NFL picks, but I'm not done yet with Michael Crabtree. It's just so incredibly greedy and stupid, and I can't just let it go. Plus, writing about the Browns and Indians isn't super-fun right now. AND, I'm working on a 40, and those get me riled up.

For source material, how about this article from espn.com?

The most relevant thing to me here is the fact that: holdouts lose in the end. It always ends up hurting their career, which impacts their long-term finances. Even if they get their demands in the first year, things won't pan out for them in the end. It's a sucker's bet. Here on the Browns we've got our own regrettable holdout: Brady Quinn. What if he'd reported on time in 2007 and won the starting job in 2007? We certainly wouldn't have this debacle we have now. We'd have a different debacle, because this is the Cleveland Browns, but that isn't the point.

The most incredible thing about the story is the ego it takes to adopt such a position. I can only imagine what it's like to be a veteran and have some guy who's never even played a down demand to be one of the highest-paid players on the club. It's double-ego with Crabtree: his whole position is that he should be paid top-5 money even though he was drafted, I forget, not top 5. Just stop it. Get paid millions to play and like it! I didn't hold out at GrafTech, and they're not paying me millions. Yet.

This piece has a number of fun quotes, which I always enjoy:

[Crabtree's] circle consists of at least three men over the age of 40: former NFL superstar Deion Sanders, Texas state Sen. Royce West and Crabtree's cousin, bail bondsman David Wells.
Deion, a guy named "Royce," and a bail bondsman. How can this not end well?

[Agent Eugene] Parker no doubt knows about the probability that rookies who hold out are far more likely to get injured and have inconsequential first seasons.
And doesn't seem to care. These things happen when agents represent their own interests instead of their clients'. Have you ever read about how real estate agents sell their own houses for much more than they sell clients' houses? That has nothing to do with anything.

Former KC Chiefs GM Carl Peterson: I don't think there's any way he'll ever recover the experience he's losing this year in the National Football League, and I don't think he'll ever recover the financial loss.
I want top-5 money! Waah!

Tom Cousineau, who himself held out: Who out there, all things being equal, would prefer to work for less money than more money? Who makes that choice?
It's not all money, Greedo. There's location, a chance to build a career, job satisfaction, and many other things. This rhetorical simplification doesn't add anything to this discussion. Plus: isn't that what Crabtree is doing, making less money? I don't know the exact details of the offer on the table, but I'm assuming it's greater than zero.

But as one final kicker, he's pulling in a bit more than zero: Crabtree won't be hurting for money any time soon. He has endorsement deals with Subway, EA Sports and Nike Jordan Brand sneakers. Trading cards could possibly net him another six figures.
Wow, if I was an exec with Subway, EA, or Nike, that would absolutely drive me bonkers. We're paying this guy? I'd dump him immediately. This would infuriate me. It already does, and I'm not an exec with any of those companies. I'm not an executive at all, in fact. I'm the executive editor of this blog. And I will not offer Michael Crabtree anything to endorse the site.