Sports Then and Now

The final week of the 2012 NFL season was just as good as the first 16 were. With 16 division matchups on the schedule, it had it all: shutouts, blowouts, third-string quarterbacks, elimination games, records being chased and of course another opportunity for Tony Romo to choke. (He did). For the last time in 2012, your storylines from the week that was in pro football.

Eight would have been great: Minnesota running back Adrian Peterson came up eight yards shy of tying the single-season rushing record, but his Vikings are heading to the playoffs.

Adrian Peterson came within eight yards of tying and nine of breaking the NFL single-season rushing record, but with time running out in the game, Blair Walsh kicked a 29-yard field goal to break the tie  and send the Vikings to the playoffs, ending Peterson’s regular season. Minnesota defeated the Packers, 37-34, for their first win against their division rivals since 2009. The loss also ended Green Bay’s 12-game division winning streak. Peterson did become just the seventh running back to ever rush for 2,000 yards in a season as he concluded the regular season with 2,097 yards on the ground. The Packers had won nine straight regular season finales before the loss. Aaron Rodgers threw four touchdowns in a game for the fourth time this year, including two to Greg Jennings. Walsh added to his NFL record with his 10th field goal of 50-plus yards on the season. Peterson finished the season with seven 150-plus rushing games, tying the NFL record. Minnesota has made the playoffs for the first time since 2009. The Packers, who finished the regular season at 11-5 and the Vikings, who finished 10-6, will play each other on Saturday in the Wild Card round.

The good news: the Colts won their regular season finale. The great news: Chuck Pagano was back on the sidelines to coach it. J.J. Watt failed to get any sacks and finished two shy of the NFL single-season record as the Texans lost to the Colts to fall all the way to the third seed in the AFC, missing the bye they had been in position for all season long. Watt finished with 20.5 sacks on the year. Houston has never won at Indianapolis – now 0-11 all-time with the 28-16 loss on Sunday. A career-long 70-yard TD pass from Andrew Luck to T.Y. Hilton on 3rd & 23 all but sealed the win for the Colts. Deji Karim returned a second-half kickoff 101 yards for Indy, their longest return since 1973. Andre Johnson tied the career record of 10-reception games set by Wes Welker last week with the 18th of his career. Reggie Wayne now has at least three catches in 64 straight games, extending his NFL record. The Colts became the seventh team to improve by nine wins in just one year, going from 2-14 in 2011 to 11-5 in 2012. Houston finished 12-4 after losing three of its last four games and will host the Bengals in the Wild Card round, while the Colts will travel to Baltimore.

The Chicago Bears have made a little history of their own as they became just the second team since 1990 to miss the playoffs after starting the season with a 7-1 record despite beating the Lions, 26-24, in Detroit and finishing with a 10-6 record. They have now missed the playoffs in five of the last six seasons. Matt Forte did rush for 1,000 yards for the third time in his career. The Lions finished a disappointing 4-12, but Matthew Stafford shattered the previous record of 691 pass attempts in a season and finished with 727. Calvin Johnson caught five balls for 72 yards and came up 36 yards short of the first ever 2,000-yard receiving season. It broke his streak of eight straight 100-yard receiving games and four straight 10-catch games, which were both NFL records. He finished the season with an NFL record 1,964 receiving yards. Chicago fired head coach Lovie Smith on Monday after a 3-5 end to the year and that has apparently prompted kick returner Devin Hester to consider retirement.

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Michael Crabtree will finally start spending time on the field with his teammates instead of in meetings with his agents.

Boy there sure is a lot going on in the sports world this week. Yet, when I look at what to write about I’m almost paralyzed by the choices. Sort of like looking at the dessert aisle at an all-you-can-eat buffet; so much to choose from you just don’t know where to start.

Michael, Thank You For Joining Us
I don’t know about you, but I’m so glad that Michael Crabtree finally came to his senses and took the multi-millions of dollars the San Francisco 49ers have been offering him for months.

I have read several defenses of him saying that Michael is a good guy and was just trying to make sure he got what he deserved. Hey, he very well be the nicest guy since Harry Truman, but in this case he was just trying to be greedy.

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Michael Crabtree's catch and touchdown at the end of the Texas Tech-Texas game was the biggest play of the 2008 College Football season.

On the same day that a one-time star NFL receiver began serving a two year sentence in the New York State Prison system as a result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, another potential NFL star receiver is continuing the self-inflicted implosion of what just months ago seemed like a promising NFL career.

When the San Francisco 49ers selected Michael Crabtree with the 10th pick in the 2009 NFL Draft most experts hailed the pick as a coup for the 49ers.

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Welcome to the new weekly Friday wrap-up column on Sports Then and Now. We’ll use this space each week to look back at this week in sports history, offer some insights and opinions on what is happening today and preview some of the big sporting events coming up over the weekend.

You Can’t Pick Your Relatives
San Francisco 49ers’ draft pick Michael Crabtree probably won’t be all that happy at his next family reunion. He and his agent, Eugene Parker, are now trying to distance themselves from comments made this week by the receiver’s cousin, David Wells. Wells told reporters that Crabtree is prepared to sit out this season and re-enter the NFL draft in 2010 if he doesn’t get what they believe to be “fair market value.”

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First round pick Michael Crabtree has reportedly threatened to sit out the entire 2009 season and re-enter the NFL Draft if he can't get a suitable contract from the 49ers.

If there were still any questions that Michael Crabtree had a “prima donna” attitude, or liked himself in a T.O. kind of way, there are no doubts now.

Late Thursday morning, ProFootballTalk.com reported that San Francisco 49ers first round pick (10th overall), wide receiver Michael Crabtree, was fully prepared to sit out the entire 2009 season if he doesn’t get the contract he’s demanding.

ESPN later reported that David Wells, Crabtree’s cousin and adviser, confirmed that the receiver is willing to hold out all year.

“We are prepared to do it,” Wells said. “Michael just wants fair-market value. They took him with the 10th pick and you have Darrius Heyward-Bey getting $38 million?  This week is crucial. Michael was one of the best players in the draft and he just wants to be paid like one of the best players. This week is very crucial.”

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