Singletary Almost Makes Crabtree Cry, but in Good Way

I'm guessing Mike Singletary doesn't have much of a poker face. Of course, he probably doesn't need one, either. He just wills himself good cards, or, worst case, he intimidates his opponents into folding, even with high-percentage hands.

Singletary is an NFL Hall of Famer and Super Bowl champ, and now he's the 49ers head coach. He took over for Mike Nolan last October, and one game into his tenure (a 34-13 loss to the mighty Seahawks), Singletary ordered Vernon Davis to the showers early in the fourth quarter for pouting.

It sent a clear message that the new 49ers would be nothing like the old ones (well, aside from the losing). And that was before we found out that Singletary, during halftime of the Seahawks game, had dropped trou in front of the team to stress the point that they were getting their asses kicked. Because some people are visual learners.

So it shouldn't be much of a surprise that during organized team activities this month, Singletary said he almost made 2009 first-round pick Michael Crabtree cry after he found the wideout running routes during the team's first minicamp even though he's still recovering from foot surgery. Via Niner Insider:

Singletary recounted the conversation he had with his prized rookie. "'I've got nothing against you. I'm not angry or anything. I just want you to know, you have to do everything the doctors want you to do so that you can get better.' I said, 'I'm not worried about what you can do.' I said, 'I know. We drafted you at No. 10. We know what you can do. We just want to make sure that when you come out here, you're ready to go.' So, he's done the things that he needs to do, spending a lot of time with (receivers coach Jerry] Sullivan. I know Jerry is excited about what he's seeing as well."

So unlike his post-game Vernon Davis tirade, Singletary sounds like he's giving Crabtree the kid-gloves treatment. And more than that, Crabtree was more upset about not being able to get on the field as soon as possible than being called out, which is noteworthy because there were some pre-draft rumblins' that Crabtree had -- wait for it -- "character concerns."

So that's good news. Now the 49ers just need to somebody to throw him the ball.