49ers' Michael Crabtree: More tree than crab

<p>Is Michael Crabtree crabby?</p><p>It's hard to know. He's not a big talker with the media, which is surprising considering he's one of the greatest college wide receivers of all time, the former 10th overall pick in the NFL draft, plus he's pals with MC Hammer and Deion Sanders — talkers to the max.</p><p>Here's what we know about Crabtree. Some people call him a diva, like Hammer and Sanders. He's never played a preseason game with the 49ers. Some people question his work ethic and his commitment to the team.</p><p>Plus, he's been far less productive in the NFL than he was in college. But he's come on big time lately (28 catches for 365 yards and three touchdowns the last five games), and a breakout game against the New Orleans Saints on Saturday will make him an NFL star.</p><p>How would a teammate describe him?</p><p>“He's a beast,” said Kyle Williams, his fellow wide receiver. “He's a playmaker, bottom line. He's one of the guys that will go up and make the tough catch, he's tough over the middle, and he's a tough out when it comes to bringing him down. I think he's got it all.</p><p>“I put him up against any of the receivers in the league. I can attest to just how hard this man works every single day, and the people of San Francisco really need to appreciate that. </p><p>There are no off days with him and there haven't been since he's been here. He needs to be considered one of those No.1 receivers because he is. He's a beast, and he's going to continue to be.”</p><p>But is he crabby?</p><p>“He's a funny guy,” Williams said. “He's like a big brother for me and really for the rest of us, too. He may be quiet when it comes to the media, but when he comes to us. he's outgoing, he's talkative — he's really a leader in his own right. He goes out there and he proves it, he leads by example every single day at practice.”</p><p>Anthony Dixon, Crabtree's teammate and friend and most outgoing player on the 49ers, characterized Crabtree in a slightly different way.</p><p>“He lets things come to him,” Dixon said. “He don't really say a whole bunch. He's kind of a quiet, conservative guy. Borderline shy. I don't feel like it's bad. He's a good dude. I feel like he really is a good dude. I think he might have got a bad rep from some people, but I think he's a good dude really, because he gave me a couple pep talks. Just about some of the stuff I was going through or just becoming a professional. I can tell that he's learning from some of his previous mistakes.”</p><p>Dixon, the second-year, third-string running back, turned off certain members of the team early in training camp by drawing too much attention to himself — talking throughout practice, dancing between drills, those types of things.</p><p>This is what Crabtree said about his pep talks to Dixon.</p><p>“Everybody knows I'm a realist,” Crabtree said. “If I see something wrong, I'm a guy that's going to keep it real with you because I keep it real with myself and everyone around me.”</p><p>So, he's a leader. And a self-proclaimed realist. But is he crabby?</p><p>He has “Mike Crab” tattooed on his back, plus he tags his tweets “#yungcrab.” He clearly identifies with his inner crab.</p><p>So, is he more of a crab or a tree?</p><p>He shrugged.</p><p>“Some call me Tree,” he said. “Most call me Crab, though.”</p><p>What does Ricky Jean Francois, the oral historian of the 49ers, call him?</p><p>“I call him Tree,” Jean Francois said. “I know a lot of people don't like to be called Crab — they might take it the wrong way, so that's why I just call him Tree.”</p><p>But is he crabby? </p><p>Jean Francois laughed.</p><p>“Naw,” he said. “Tree is a guy that likes to smile a hell of a lot. A guy that will smile a lot. Somebody that smiles as much as him, I call him ‘Smiley Face.'”</p><p>Smiley Face? It's true. Tree is a smiler, and his smile is unique. It's understated and self-contained, just the way he plays. He never lets the corners of his mouth turn up. He purses his lips, even bites the lower one to prevent his mouth from actually forming a full smile.</p><p>But his face always gives away his exuberance. His eyebrows raise and his eyes close and dimples pop up everywhere. It's like he tries his absolute hardest to hold back joy but his face betrays him.</p><p>And when he laughs, he doesn't make a sound. He closes his eyes, throws back his head </p><p>and bounces his shoulders silently.</p><p>At his most joyful moments, he shows his teeth — it's the closest he comes to a full smile. He cracks his lips to show perfectly white, perfectly straight chompers, framed by a perfectly trimmed beard.</p><p>Underneath all his understatement, Crabtree is a perfectionist. Jerry Rice was a perfectionist in a similar way. Rice made a ritual of putting on his uniform. He wouldn't go to the field until his “Flash 80” towel was folded perfectly in his waistband.</p><p>Crabtree is the same way. He needs to look good all the time. He always wears matching Michael Jordan sweat suits around the practice facility, and a few days before the Niners played the Pittsburgh Steelers, Crabtree got a shipment of gold Jordan cleats.</p><p>He opened the package in the equipment room and, when he saw the cleats in the box, he bit his lip and shook his fists in front of his face like an incredulous kid on Christmas morning.</p><p>As Crabtree left the equipment room with his cleats, he was asked if he planned on wearing them that Monday night against the Steelers.</p><p>“Nooooo,” he said with a rising inflection. Then he winked three times and gave the Smiley Face.</p><p>The cleats were beautiful, but they were also against the league's dress code. Crabtree was willing to pay a $10,000 fine to look and feel perfect — which is what he did.</p><p>Don't think of Crabtree as a Crab — small, moody, moving sideways through his career. He's a growing tree — out in the open, protective and serene.</p><p>“Tree has a reason to smile,” said Jean Francois. “He's doing the best job. He's on one of the best teams in the league. Who wouldn't smile?”</p>