Michael Crabtree, the San Francisco 49ers receiver who was targeted on the team’s last three plays of Super Bowl XLVII, said Thursday that he lost vision after being hit hard in the face near the goal line on third down.
Speaking to NFL Network in an interview Thursday, Crabtree said he took such a shot from Baltimore Ravens cornerback Jimmy Smith that he temporarily couldn’t see.
“When the guy hit me, he hit me all in the face,” Crabtree told NFL Network. “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.”
Asked to again recount what happened to him, Crabtree said, “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 told the network that his sight returned before the next snap and that he had no complaints about the non-call on fourth down.
Starting with second-and-goal from the 5-yard line, three pass plays to Crabtree all went as incompletions. The Ravens got the ball back on downs with less than two minutes left, San Francisco did not get the ball back, and Baltimore went on to win 34-31.
