Former 49ers owner Eddie DeBartolo will be an inaugural inductee to the San Francisco 49ers Hall of Fame on Saturday. But his "vintage Eddie D" remarks on the Michael Crabtree holdout might make the Niners' current owners wish that Eddie would just disappear back to some Louisiana riverboat casino.
"You know me," Eddie told the San Francisco Chronicle, "I wouldn't be pushed around by him. If it keeps going a little longer, I'd tell him to go back in the draft. It's different now. These kids are looking for other people's money."
I would shoot my grandmother to have Eddie DeBartolo back in charge of the 49ers right now.
Twenty-eight-year-old Jed York, Eddie's nephew who now has Eddie's old job, was on KNBR Friday morning. He responded to reports that the team might lower it's offer to Crabtree because of the holdout. "We're not reducing the offer, but we're looking at it, " York said. "We want to make sure that we don't make it something where the 49ers are trying to hurt Michael. It's trying to figure out 'How do you get this player to come in?'"
"You can't let a couple months of headaches ruin what could be a great career and a great teammate for the 49ers going forward," York said.
Many 49ers' fans are feeling like Jan Brady during this whole holdout saga. "All I hear all day long is 'Crabtree, Crabtree, Crabtree'!"
It's true, most San Francisco 49ers' "news" this season when it's not gameday has been the aggravating, rollercoaster proceedings of Michael Crabtree's holdout. But in a way, that's a good problem to have.
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Coach Mike Singletary is running a drama-free, focused and disciplined squad. These guys are 1-0, and they aren't trading for players who don't want to be here or having coaches punch each other out. Other than Crabtree, there is no bizarre news during the week. If you're going to have a problem, it's good to have only that one problem.
But you know Eddie D! He wouldn't be pushed around by that problem!
Joe Kukura is a freelance writer who is going to catch hell from his grandmother this weekend.
