He played college football for the Texas Tech Red Raiders, twice earning unanimous All-American honors.

Crabtree was a member of the 49ers for six seasons and spent the remainder of his career with the Oakland Raiders, Baltimore Ravens, and Arizona Cardinals.

He attended David W. Carter High School in Dallas where he played basketball, football, and ran track for the Cowboys program.

[2] During a visit in 2004, Texas Tech basketball coach Bob Knight asked Crabtree which sport he was going to choose.

[2] Crabtree was redshirted his freshman season of 2006 because of a transcript glitch and a position change from quarterback to wide receiver.

[10] In a 75–7 win over Northwestern State, Crabtree had 145 yards on eight receptions for three touchdowns in only two and a half quarters of playing time.

[12] During the Iowa State game, Crabtree broke the season record for most touchdown receptions by a freshman receiver.

[13] In the October 13, 2007, game, Crabtree tacked on 170 more receiving yards on eight receptions but had no touchdowns in a 35–7 win over the Texas A&M Aggies.

[17] Crabtree, along with Harrell and head coach Mike Leach, were featured on the cover of the 2008 edition of Dave Campbell's Texas Football.

[22] Crabtree began his sophomore campaign in the 49–24 win over Eastern Washington, recording 9 receptions for 73 yards and a touchdown in limited playing time.

[24] Crabtree was selected as the AT&T ESPN All-America Player of the Week for following 43–7 win over Southern Methodist for totaling a season-high 164 yards and 3 touchdowns from 8 receptions.

[29] Crabtree partially recovered from his ankle sprain enough to play at Kansas, where he amassed 70 yards and two touchdowns off of 9 receptions in a 63–21 Tech victory.

Crabtree grabbed the pass, shook a defender on the sideline, and ran into the endzone for the game-winning touchdown with a second left in the game.

NFL Draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. had projected Crabtree to be selected by the Seattle Seahawks as the fourth overall pick.

[79] On February 21, 2009, it was reported that Crabtree sustained a severe Jones fracture in his left foot, which would require surgery to insert a screw and would leave him unable to perform for the next six to ten weeks including the NFL Combine and Texas Tech's pro day.

[99] The last first-round draft pick to hold out for an entire season was quarterback Kelly Stouffer in 1987 when he refused to sign with the Cardinals.

[103] On October 25, 2009, Crabtree made his first career NFL start against the Houston Texans catching five passes for 56 yards and playing more snaps[104] than any other 49ers receiver in the game.

[105] On November 22, 2009, Crabtree caught his first touchdown on a 38-yard pass from quarterback Alex Smith, beating veteran All-Pro cornerback Al Harris on the play.

In the home opener on Monday Night Football against the New Orleans Saints he caught 1 pass (career low) for 32 yards.

[115] In the playoffs, Crabtree caught a five-yard touchdown pass in the Divisional Round against the New Orleans Saints to give the 49ers an early 14–0 lead.

[117][118] In 2012, Crabtree posted his first season with greater than 1,000 receiving yards as he continued to develop as a player and grow into his role as the number-one target in the 49ers' passing game.

[123][124] Crabtree had five receptions for 109 yards including a touchdown in the Super Bowl XLVII loss to the Baltimore Ravens by a score of 34–31.

[131] On January 19, 2014, a pass to Crabtree from Kaepernick in the final seconds of the NFC Championship against the Seahawks was tipped by Richard Sherman and intercepted by Malcolm Smith as the 49ers lost, 23–17.

[132][133] In Week 3 of the 2014 season, in a 23–14 loss to the Arizona Cardinals, Crabtree recorded a career-high ten receptions, which went for 80 yards and a touchdown.

In the season opener against the New Orleans Saints, he scored the Raiders' go-ahead two-point conversion on a pass from Derek Carr late in the fourth quarter of the 35–34 victory.

[145][146] During Week 7 against the Kansas City Chiefs, Crabtree had three catches for 24 yards and caught the game-winning touchdown from Derek Carr as time expired.

During a Week 12 21–14 victory against the Denver Broncos, Crabtree got into a fight with cornerback Aqib Talib, resulting in both players being ejected.

[158] In the Wild Card Round against the Los Angeles Chargers, Crabtree had two catches for 38 yards, both for touchdowns, as the Ravens lost 23–17.

Each time Crabtree performed his signature dance move "The Crab Shake" on the field, Ubisoft made a charitable donation to the Boys & Girls Club of San Francisco.

The deal involved a variety of endeavors including personal appearances and behind-the-scenes webisodes which debuted the week of the 2009 NFL Draft.