There have been many times in Shawn Crable's life when he did not respond well to being pushed. Whether the intention was to send a message or instill discipline, some of those pushes may seem like pats on the back compared to what he can expect from hard-driving coach Bill Belichick.
Crable has all the tools - size, athleticism, smarts - to become a good linebacker in the NFL, otherwise the Patriots wouldn't have drafted him in the third round (78th overall) last weekend. He also has an outgoing personality that will probably be worked out of him sometime during the preseason. He has already been informed what to expect.
'Everybody says the same stuff. Just come to work and be prepared to take whatever criticism you get,' Crable said. His way of handling criticism in high school was to leave the team temporarily. 'Coach [Rick] Shepas was trippin',' Crable said. 'So I quit the team because he wasn't playing me.' Crable had a similar experience in college, although the thought of leaving the team never entered his mind until Michigan coach Lloyd Carr told Crable that he should transfer to another school. He stuck it out.
One person who never let Crable quit anything was Ella Kirkland, his foster mother from the time he was 11. 'She was an angel to me, taught me a lot of stuff, gave me a lot of hope for the future,' said Crable, who spent time in four foster homes growing up in Massillon, Ohio. When he was at Michigan, Crable recalled Kirkland telling him he wouldn't be allowed to come back home unless he graduated.
He got his degree in education. The commencement ceremony was last Saturday, the first day of the draft. It wasn't until the next day, when Crable received a phone call from Belichick with the Patriots on the clock in the third round. The conversation was interrupted because Belichick had to take another call. 'I was praying he was going to call back,' Crable said. 'It was kind of weird. I'm thinking like, 'Yeah, finally, I got a call. I'm ready to go.' Then he's like, 'Hold on. Hold on. I'm going to have to call you back.' ' Belichick called back after the Patriots traded the 69th overall pick to San Diego. In fact, he had to call back a few times because he kept going into Crable's voice mail. Crable said he didn't answer because the caller ID on his phone said the incoming calls were restricted and he didn't want to tie up the line when the Patriots called back. An irritated Belichick eventually got through and asked Crable how he felt about playing for the Patriots. 'And he said a couple of other words,' Crable said, laughing. 'He just kind of let me know this isn't a game I'm coming to. This is big-time football. It isn't college anymore and you don't have four years to sit around and wait and things like that. He just kind of gave me a brief description - a very intense, brief description.' Crable, the father of two (ages 3 and 1), was known as a jokester to his Michigan teammates. Once during a team photo, he held his index and middle fingers above Coach Carr's head to give him bunny ears.
During his predraft visit with the Patriots, Crable said Belichick asked him if he liked to take penalties. Two years ago, Crable delivered a vicious helmet-to-helmet hit on Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith on a pivotal fourth-quarter drive that helped the top-ranked Buckeyes hold on to beat the No.2 Wolverines 42-39 in Columbus. Last season against Wisconsin, Crable was called for two personal fouls on the same drive.
Crable, projected to be a pass-rushing outside linebacker with the Patriots, tends to play upright, which might explain why it's easy for him to butt helmets with an opposing player. '[The Patriots] liked the aggressiveness,' Crable said. 'They were just like, 'You have to be smart about how you hit people. You can't hit people in the head in the NFL and stuff like that.' It was kind of making me conscious of where I'm hitting people, how I'm hitting people, being under control and things like that so you don't get penalties.'
