Michael Crabtree
From NCAA College Football Information & Resource
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Michael Crabtree (Born September 14, 1987, in Dallas, TX) played wide receiver for the Texas Tech Red Raiders in the NCAA college football tournament. Crabtree had a very explosive year as a redshirt freshman, shattering several records in just his rookie playing year in college. Crabtree was believed to be playing the best freshman season of any receiver in college football history. Halfway through the season, the 6-foot-3, 208-pound Crabtree has already broken N.C.A.A. Division I freshman record for touchdown receptions in a season. One of Crabtree's most memorable play in college was his game-winning TD reception with 1 second left to knock down top-ranked Texas in Lubbock.
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[edit] Personal Life
Michael is one of Bessie Turner and Michael Crabtree's six children. He has three brothers and two sisters and is related to former Tech All-American running back Ricky Williams. When he is not on the field, Michael enjoys watching movies and cutting hair. According to his father, Michael played flag football game when he was still 5, scoring a touchdown on his first carry after barreling through a defender at the line of scrimmage. Unfortunately, the game ended up to be his last as his father was worried he might hurt other kids. As a sixth-grader, Michael accounted for five touchdowns in a game where he played five different positions (quarterback, receiver, running back, defensive back and kickoff returner).
[edit] High School
Crabtree excelled in both basketball and football in D.W. Carter High School in Dallas, Texas. As a senior playing hoops, Crabtree was a versatile baller who averaged 20.8 points, 6.7 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game. Texas Tech assistant coach Pat Knight, who with the Red Raiders' basketball coaching staff would've made Crabtree as their top basketball recruit in 2006, said he once saw him score 44 points in an A.A.U. game. He was ranked among the state's top 50 basketball recruits.
On the football field, Crabtree attained the same amount of success, playing under his coach Allen Wilson as a quarterback. On his junior year, he rushed for 469 yards and seven touchdowns and completed 30-of-67 passes for 897 yards and eight touchdowns to go with an interception. As a senior, he carried the ball 100 times for 646 yards and 9 touchdowns and completed 45-of-100 passes for 870 yards and 11 scores. Crabtree finished his prep career as a Four-Star Recruit, ranked No.16 athlete nationally and No.91 overall prospect in Texas by Rivals.com. He was also the No. 10 overall prospect in Dallas area (Dallas Morning News) and was listed in the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal Fab 44.
[edit] College
Illinois, Michigan State and Kansas each offered Crabtree a scholarship as a quarterback. He however learned from his high school playing career that he was best fit as a wide receiver and chose to attend Texas Tech. Other schools that offered him scholarships were Baylor, Iowa, Kansas State, Oklahoma, and Texas A&M.
[edit] 2006
Crabtree redshirted on his first year at Texas Tech. He dominated Thursday night football scrimmages and gave the Red Raider first-team defense problems while mimmicking the opposition's top receiver.
[edit] 2007
Crabtree took over Texas Tech's starting spot at the z receiver position in his redshirt freshman year. He opened up the 2007 campaign against Southern Methodist where he caught 12 passes for 106 yards with three touchdowns in a 49-9 win. The following week against Texas-El Paso, Crabtree turned out another solid game with 15 catches for 188 yards with two touchdowns in the Red Raiders 45-31 victory then followed it up with 11 receptions for 244 yards and three scores against Rice. Texas Tech suffered its first loss against Oklahoma State, despite Crabtree's 237 yards on 14 catches for three TDs. The Red Raiders rebounded with a win over Northwestern State where Crabtree had 145 yards on eight receptions for three touchdowns in only two and a half quarters of playing time. Crabtree's first milestone happened against Iowa State where he broke the record for most TD receptions by a freshman receiver. He went on to finish that game with 10 receptions for 154 yards and three touchdowns. Crabtree played his first touchdown-less game of the season against Texas A&M, but had eight receptions and 170 catching yards. Another TD-less game ensued against Missouri, catching ten passes for 76 yards. Crabtree caught his 99th reception the following game against Colorado, which set records for most single-season receptions by a freshman in I-A, most single-season receptions by a Red Raider, and most single-season touchdowns by a Big 12 player. Crabtree also caught 4 passes for 61 yards against Baylor then added 9 catches for 195 yards with two TDs against Texas.
Despite two consecutive games without a score, Crabtree was ranked by CBS Sports as one of the top freshman in the nation and is the only freshman on the 2007 Maxwell Award semifinalist list. For awhile, Crabtree and teammate Graham Harrell were also mentioned as Heisman contenders. In the regular season finale against Oklahoma, Crabtree finished with 12 catches for 154 yards and 1 touchdown, and in the process joined teammate Danny Amendola to become just the third pair of teammates to have 100-plus catches in the same season in Tech's 34-27 victory over the Sooners.
At the end of the season, he was named to the coaches' All-Big 12 First Team and became the first freshman to be named into the America Football Coaches Association Coaches' (AFCA) All-America Team since Herschel Walker in 1980. He also bagged the prestigious Biletnikoff Award, given to the nation's top wide receiver, and was eventually named as a unanimous consensus All-America, a first at Tech since Zach Thomas in 1995. He was one of eight players to be unanimous All-American in 2007, joining the likes of RB Darren McFadden (Arkansas) and OL Jake Long (Michigan) on offense and DT Glenn Dorsey (LSU), DE Sedrick Ellis (USC), DE Chris Long (Virginia), LB James Laurinitis (Ohio State) and DB Aqib Talib (Kansas) on defense. In his first post-season appearance, Crabtree caught 9 passes for 101 yards and a TD in the 31-28 Gator Bowl win over Virginia. With his TD catch, he matched the school's single season record at 22 and also tied for third in the NCAA's single-season touchdown receptions list. To top it all off, Crabtree was named as the AT&T All-America Player of the Year following his explosive rookie year with 1,962 yards, 22 touchdowns and 13 receptions - all NCAA freshman records. He also tied the NCAA single-season record in 100 yard receiving games (11) and had five games with three touchdowns.
[edit] 2008
In the spring game, Crabtree caught six passes for 54 yards and a touchdown. He was included in the Playboy 52nd Anniversary All-America Team, becoming the 8th Red Raider to be honored. His preseason accolades include a unanimous first team All-Big 12 pick from the media and was an early candidate for the Maxwell Award.
During the season opener, Crabtree caught 9 passes for 73 yards and a TD as Tech won an easy one, 49-24. His TD catch vs. Eastern Washington tied the school's all-time TD reception list at 23. At Nevada, he registered his first 100-yard game of the season after catching 7 passes for 158 yards (season high 22.57 ypc ave.) and a career high 82-yard TD catch to move into solo 2nd in the school's career TD list as Red Raiders defeated the Wolfpack, 35-19. Against Southern Methodist, Crabtree was nominated as a candidate for the AT&T All-American of the Week after recording the 6th three-TD game of his career when he caught 8 passes for a season-high 164 yards in the 43-7 win. Against Massachusetts, he only had 62 yards receiving and a TD on five catches in the 56-14 win. In the Big 12 opener at Kansas State, Crabtree caught 9 passes for 107 yards and 2 TDs in the 30-point blow-out, tying the school record for career TDs (30) in the process. In an overtime win over Nebraska, he had five catches for 89 yards and 2 TDs to become Tech's all-time career TD catches leader while moving into the top 30 in NCAA's career scoring receptions charts. During the mid-season, Crabtree was honored as a Midseason All-American by CBSSports.com and SI.com.
At A&M, Crabtree turned in his 11th career multiple touchdown game (2 TDs) and finished with eight catches for 71 yards in the 43-25 victory. At Kansas, he had his 12th multiple TD game when he caught 2 TD passes and 70 yards on 9 receptions in the 42-point triumph. Against #1 Texas, he had a season high 10 receptions for 127 yards and the game-winning 28-yard touchdown catch to cap Tech's 39-33 come-from-behind victory over the Longhorns. It was the most memorable TD catch for Crabtree's collegiate career as it gave the Red Raiders their first-ever win over a team ranked No. 1 in the nation. Against #8 Oklahoma State, he came up with another big game as he finished with 8 catches for 89 yards and 3 TDs in the 56-20 win. His TD output moved him into solo 5th in the school's career touchdowns list (40) and 9th all-time in the NCAA career list. At #5 Oklahoma, he was held out of the endzone for only the first time in the season, and finished with 6 receptions for 62 yards in the 44-point setback. He was also held out of the endzone for the second straight game in the regular-season finale against Baylor, finishing the game with 9 catches for 63 yards in the 7-point victory. Like the previous year, Crabtree reaped numerous recognitions, most notably the Biletnikoff Award for the second straight year. At the Cotton Bowl, Crabtree snapped his 2-game TD-less streak when he caught a scoring pass, but finished with season lows of 4 catches and 30 receiving yards in the 13-point loss to Ole Miss. He finished the season with 97 receptions for 1,165 yards and 19 TDs.
[edit] Post Texas-Tech
On Jan. 13, 2009 Crabtree announced that he would be forgoing his last two years of eligibility at Texas Tech to enter in the NFL Draft. He finished his career as a Red Raider with 231 catches for 3,127 yards and 41 touchdowns, averaging 120.3 yards and 1.6 touchdowns per game.
[edit] Career Stats
| Receiving | Rushing | |||||||||
| Year | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Att | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD |
| 2007 | 134 | 1962 | 14.6 | 75 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2008 | 97 | 1165 | 12.0 | 82 | 19 | 2 | 1 | 0.5 | 3 | 0 |
[edit] Highlights
| Michael Crabtree Highlight Reel. A brief showcase of the redshirt freshman's breakthrough season. |
[edit] Achievements
[edit] 2008
- AFCA All-American
- All Big 12 First Team
- All Big 12 Media Preseason Team (Unanimous)
- Biletnikoff Award
- Blue Ribbon College Football Yearbook First Team All-Big 12
- CBSSports.com Midseason First Team All-American
- Collegefootballnews.com Midseason Second Team All-American
- Maxwell Award Semifinalist
- Playboy 52nd Anniversary All-America Team
- Pontiac Game Changing Performance (vs. Texas)
- SI.com's Midseason All-American First Team
- The Sporting News All-American
- Walter Camp All-American Team
[edit] 2007
- AFCA All-American
- All-Big 12 First Team (Coaches, AP)
- AP All-American First Team
- AP Big 12 Offensive Newcomer of the Year
- AT&T All-America Player of the Year
- Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week (09.17)
- Biletnikoff Award
- CBSSports.com National Freshman of the Year
- Dallas Morning News All-Big 12 First Team
- Football Writers Association of America's (FWAA)All-America team
- Maxwell Award semifinalist
- Rivals.com All-American
- Rivals.com All-Big 12 First Team
- Rivals.com National Freshman of the Year
- San Antonio Express-News All-Big 12 First Team
- San Antonio Express-News Big 12 Offensive Newcomer of the Year
- Scout.com All-American
- Scout.com National Freshman of the Year
- The Sporting News All-American
- The Sporting News All-Big 12 Freshman Team
- The Sporting News All-Big 12 First Team
- Touchdown Club of Columbus Freshman of the Year
- Touchdown Club of Columbus Paul Warfield Award
- Walter Camp All-American Team
