While things went dark momentarily for everyone watching Super Bowl XLVII, Michael Crabtree experienced a different and much scarier kind of darkness.
In an interview with NFL Network on Thursday, Crabtree said after taking a hard hit from Ravens cornerback Jimmy Smith, he temporarily lost vision in the fourth quarter.
“When the guy hit me, he hit me all in the face,” Crabtree said. “I’m not tripping. I’m not one to whine about nothing, but he hit me all in the face and I couldn’t really see after he hit me.”
Crabtree said the scary moment ended before the next snap as his vision returned prior to the following play, but the wide receiver wasn’t upset that no call was made on the play near the goal line on third down. When pushed to describe the aftermath of the hit further, Crabtree noted this wasn’t an isolated incident.
“They hit me, I really couldn’t see. … Then [my vision] just came back. It’s not concussion-like. When you get hit in football, it’s going to feel like you can’t see. It’s going to feel intense. But it snapped back. It happens all the time in football.”
Crabtree was the target of all three of the 49ers’ last plays of the game, which all went as incompletions giving the Ravens the ball back on downs. Baltimore eventually went on to win 34-31.
