The opinion on wide receiver Michael Crabtree from the San Francisco 49ers' fanbase is one of the most varied we've seen in recent history. Some people believe Crabtree is very talented and is just waiting to break out in Jim Harbaugh and Greg Roman's west coast offense, while others believe he doesn't want to be in San Francisco at all. Some folks are of the opinion that Crabtree is not happy with Alex Smith as his quarterback, while others don't really get that vibe from him. There's the opinion that he's not a team player and doesn't get along well with anybody, and then there's the fact that Crabtree himself states that he's more of a loner when it comes to workouts and things of that nature.
Well, when Alex Smith was asked before the minicamps officially began in regards to where Crabtree was, he said "Great question. Asking the wrong guy, honestly." That got a whole lot of people ticked off, mostly at Crabtree, and admittedly, it did seem pretty bad at that point. Folks questioned so much about Crabtree's dedication to this team and Smith and general, but it seems those questions were misplaced ... or at the very least, slightly misguided.
According to Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee, Smith told Bay Area reporters that he was "disgusted" by the way the quote sounded when he read it in the newspaper, and he called Crabtree to apologize. In regards to Crabtree's comments about not knowing who the quarterback would be, Smith shrugged them off and took the high road. They still do appear to be a slight jab at Smith, but it's good that Smith is dedicated to a professional relationship with Crabtree, and better still that he's adamant that Crabtree is as well.
One thing that Crabtree continues to draw the ire of fans for is the fact that he left the field when he reportedly had some sort of foot injury. A lot of people see that as a negative, seeing as how players like Colin Kaepernick and Dominique Zeigler remained on the field, despite injuries. Whatever reason Crabtree left though, we'll probably never known.
The point remains that one half of this connection (Smith) is extremely adamant that nothing is wrong between the two, and that's a great sign. The other point is the that Smith acknowledges that the most the pairing need to work on is out on the football field, on gameday, when neither of them showed any kind of stable connection with the other. And that's what it all boils down to, Crabtree and Smith will likely both be with the team in 2011 as starters, and the most important thing is that, in the end, they both want to win football games. Hopefully.