Bay Area Sports Blog

The Raiders and 49ers each selected new wide receivers in the first round of today’s draft to catch balls from their mediocre quarterbacks. The Raiders selected Maryland’s Derrius Heyward-Bey, shocking the world, and the Niners were excited to find Michael Crabtree available at No. 10. Heyward-Bey is known as a speed guy with limited ball-catching skills, Crabtree is knocked as potentially being a product of the prolific Texas Tech offense.

But we here at the Bay Area Sports Blog like to go deeper. We’re like the Niners’ psychologist. Who are Derrius Heyward-Bey and Michael Crabtree? Prop your glasses on the end of your nose, crank dat soulja boy, and come along for the ride.

Derrius Heyward-Bey

Heyward-Bey was picked for his speed, and that’s nothing new. In high school in Maryland, he was a track and basketball star (he also considered hockey at one point) who joined the football team mostly to spend time with his buddies. He earned a scholarship to Maryland based on his promising speed and, as a freshman, he ran a 4.23 in the 40 to set a school record. But he almost quit the team his first year after coaches thought he would never blossom into a true football player. “Usually, I was just out there running for my life,” Heyward-Bey told the Baltimore Sun after his sophomore year. “If I scored a touchdown, it was always out of fear of being tackled.” He settled in at Maryland and rumors had him leaving after his sophomore season for the NFL, but he stayed with the Terps and came out after his junior year. His 4.3 40 at the combine tied for the second-fastest of the decade.

Heyward-Bey is known as a character guy who his high school coach called “… one of the best [people] I’ve ever been around.” But don’t be surprised if you see him on some crappy local television spots for fast internet. He hired a marketing firm to raise his profile before the draft, so he blogged and vlogged for www.imatopprospect.com, attended an autograph show and did an NFL Network commercial. The marketing agents want more. “Skall’s plan is to grow a fan base for Heyward-Bey and open corporate doors, both of which will enhance his personal brand. His celebrated world-class speed could be used to promote high-speed Internet connections, for example.” Will my page load in 4.3 seconds? Because that’s too long.

Michael Crabtree

Maybe the Raiders didn’t take Crabtree because of his fatty diss Thursday, or maybe they were worried that Crabtree is too much a product of the system at Texas Tech, where he had 3,127 yards and 41 touchdowns in only two seasons. But take a look at his career highlights, including that tightrope act against Texas, and you know he’s only a product of AWESOME.

Crabtree’s diva-ness came into question today when Browns coach Eric Mangini reportedly took Crabtree off his board. Texas Tech coach Mike Leach then ripped Mangini in a conference call with reporters, saying “Crabtree as a receiver has been more successful than that guy has been as a coach.” Should we call Crabtree the “Crab-genius”? 49ersnews already made the obvious “Crabs and VD” parallels.

Crabtree has a fan site and a “Crank That” takeoff dedicated to him. What more could you want?

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By Peter on Saturday, April 25th, 2009 at 6:09 pm.
Tags: Oakland Raiders, San Francisco 49ers