The Real King Crab
November 26, 2014 | Football
Crabtree began his NFL career with the 49ers after two All-American seasons at Texas Tech (2007-08). He was the 10th overall selection in the 2009 NFL Draft.
BY NICK KOSMIDER
Special to TexasTech.com
Rodney Baker has always known one thing to be very true about Michael Crabtree.
"If there's something that he wants to do, and he has the vision and the foresight for it, he's going to do it," Baker said.
At Dallas Carter High School, the powerhouse Metroplex school featured prominently in the film "Friday Night Lights," Crabtree was a quarterback who burned defenses in nearly every playmaking way the position would allow.
But Crabtree knew he would change positions when he went to college, and he knew exactly which one he wanted to play.
"His senior year he told me there were a lot of schools that wanted to recruit him to play defensive back," said Baker, a high school teammate and close friend of Crabtree, who now works as the director of the Crab 5 Foundation. "When Texas came up to Carter to recruit him (to play defensive back), he said, `Nah, man, I catch touchdowns."
Texas Tech was just fine with allowing Crabtree to pursue his vision, and it's safe to say the move paid off pretty well for both parties.
Crabtree took home two Biletnikoff Awards during his two seasons playing for the Red Raiders. He caught 231 passes for 3,127 yards and 41 touchdowns. Of course, the biggest of those was game-winning scoring catch as time expired against the No. 1 Longhorns in 2008.
Crabtree has continued catching touchdowns in the NFL. He has grabbed 26 of them for the perennial Super Bowl contender 49ers, including four this season heading into a Thanksgiving Day matchup against the rival Seattle Seahawks.
But for all that he has accomplished since leaving Texas to pursue his pro football dreams, the biggest strides Crabtree has made have come in the form of helping others chase their own goals.
Crabtree began his foundation back in 2012 as a way to inspire kids from his hometown to build toward promising futures. It started with a football camp that gives hundreds of kids a chance to meet Crabtree, as well as other NFL stars he invited like the Denver Broncos' Von Miller, and hear stories about a guy from the very same place they're from made it big.
"I always thought of it like, `Once I make it, I'm going to come back and do something for the kids,'" Crabtree told the 49ers' official website when it accompanied him to his football camp last summer. "A lot of guys aren't genuine about it, but when it comes from the heart, you enjoy it."
But Crabtree's foundation isn't just about sports. He knows that as talent-rich an area as Dallas is athletically, the majority of the kids he comes across aren't going to become NFL stars -- and most won't even play sports in college.
"His idea is that if a kid is great at art or at graphic design or music or whatever that talent is, he wants to help promote that kid and get them to wherever they want to go," Baker said. "It's not just about sports. It's about everything. I'll never forget sitting in his car when he told me he wants to touch every kid because he has the opportunity to do it."
Sanka Stalcup knows all about Crabtree's heart. She and her husband Brett, a Texas Tech alumnus and a prominent Dallas attorney, met Crabtree several years ago, and they all clicked immediately.
When Crabtree began his camp, the Stalcups threw a fundraiser at their house to help raise money for the Crab 5 Foundation -- and the dinner and silent auction pulled together $50,000 in one night, money that went toward sponsoring kids through the Oak Cliff YMCA in inner-city Dallas.
Crabtree had always been pleasantly engaging in all their interactions, but Stalcup has seen the receiver's generosity of spirit the most when he is working the kids whose dreams matter most to him.
"I would say he is much more comfortable and passionate around kids than adults," Stalcup said. "We have two girls, 10 and 11, and he adores them. He adores kids. He has a soft spot for kids in his heart. He was brought up with loving parents, but he didn't have a lot when he was coming up. So he really wants to give back to kids. That's the whole reason he does his camp. He wants to give those kids, even if it's only for a day, to give those kids something he didn't have."
Crabtree has made a point to stress academic importance to the kids he come through his foundation. He doesn't hide from the fact that struggles with grades in high school nearly cost him his chance to go to college.
"You've got to get the grades," he told kids as the 49ers' website chronicled the camp.
Baker always marvels at just how many people know Michael Crabtree. No matter where he goes, people recognize the name.
"He's built a worldwide name," Baker said. "No matter where we go, people know him. It's that crazy."
Now, Crabtree is putting that name behind an effort to help his alma mater. The former Red Raider star is giving back to the Campaign for Fearless Champions through a Wide Receiver Position Scholarship endowment.
"It means a lot to him," Baker said. "Just to be in the position to give back period means everything. Now he knows, by being able to give back, he's not only growing his own legacy -- he has a son of his own now -- but for any other guy who comes behind him.
"He had to work hard and get his grades ready to play and then he set that standard, so he feels now that through that scholarship, they know the level they can get to by reaching that standard."
The Campaign for Fearless Champions is a multi-faceted fundraising effort with widespread goals that has largely contributed to the rising success of Red Raider student-athletes, and the campaign continues to grow.
It's appropriate, then, that Crabtree has put his name behind the cause. He's only kept growing since leaving Texas Tech six years ago. His philanthropic efforts are only beginning. And those who know the real Michael Crabtree are eager to see what his future holds.