(Instagram)San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Michael Crabtree had surgery on Wednesday to fix the Achilles tendon he tore during one of the team's OTAs. But while 49ers fans may be depressed over the news, Crabtree sent out the above message using his Instagram account to put them in a more optimistic mood .

Like the Terminator, Crabtree says he will be back.

Jim Harbaugh may have to slow his roll on Sunday. (USAT Sports Images)

If you're watching the Indy 500 this Sunday, and you're a hardcore pro football fan, your worlds will intersect in ways you did not expect. San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh will be driving the pace car -- a 2014 Corvette Stingray -- this year at the legendary race.

"I'm awaiting my coaching and instructions, and then ready for practice,'' Harbaugh said at the team's OTAs on Wednesday.

Harbaugh has a lot of history with the area, and with racing in general. The 14-year NFL quarterback played for the Indianapolis Colts from 1994 through 1997 (when he was replaced by that Peyton Manning guy), and his name is in the team's Ring of Honor. He's also a part owner of Indy-based Panther Racing, which has two drivers in this year's race -- JR Hildebrand, who starts 10th, and Townsend Bell, who starts 22nd. Last September, Harbaugh had an Indy race car parked near the practice fields at the team's headquarters in Santa Clara.

Harbaugh is also well aware of the history behind Indy 500 pace car drivers, and he's eager to live up to the legends.

"As the No. 1 fan of the Rockford Files, to follow in the footsteps of James Garner, who did it three times, and also Morgan Freeman, and Colin Powell, and Chuck Yeager and so many others, it's just a real honor and a privilege,'' he said. "I'm going to do my best to do a great job at it.''

The coach is still concerned with football, especially the fact that he lost receiver Michael Crabtree to an Achilles' tendon injury for an unknown stretch of time, but that doesn't mean that he isn't jazzed about his new role.

Chuck Norris is NOT kidding about Tim Tebow. (AP)Before you laugh at the defense of Tim Tebow, NFL Quarterback, that you are about to read, there are a few things you should remember about its author, the one and only Chuck Norris:

Chuck Norris doesn't read books. He stares them down until he gets the information he wants.

Chuck Norris sold his soul to the devil for his rugged good looks and unparalleled martial arts ability. Shortly after the transaction was finalized, Chuck roundhouse kicked the devil in the face and took his soul back. The devil, who appreciates irony, couldn't stay mad and admitted he should have seen it coming. They now play poker every second Wednesday of the month.

Brett Favre can throw a football over 50 yards. Chuck Norris can throw Brett Favre even further.

These things, of course, are all true. Now, as to Chuck Norris' defense of Mr. Tebow, which Mr. Norris wrote on a site called WND.com (which also counts Ann Coulter and Ted Nugent among its contributors). The martial-arts expert and well-known action hero truly believes that the NFL doesn't know what it's doing when it rejects Tebow as a star quarterback.

"America has the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championships) and the UCP (Ultimate Clutch Players)," Norris writes. "One is mixed martial artists, and the other is quarterbacks of the NFL. They all are athletic warriors who are extremely determined to win.

"My favorite in the UFC is Georges St. Pierre. My favorite UCP in the NFL is Tim Tebow."

Norris goes on and on, quite rhapsodically:

I have been following Tim since he became a quarterback for the Florida Gators, and I have never seen a more determined and inspiring athlete play the game of football. And I’m not alone in that sports assessment.

Norris then goes on to quote Akbar Gbajabiamila, Michael Strahan, and Forbes Magazine in his assertion that " Tebow is a player who rises to the occasion and delivers big in critical game moments."

Norris then insists that the Jacksonville Jaguars are the right home for Tebow.

Why? To put it simply, because Tim could help turn the mediocre team into a championship one. Tebow works miracles on the field, and his inclusion would embolden the spirit of the Jaguars among the team and fans.

In his 13-year career, Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher established himself as one of the greatest NFL players of the new millennium. And when he officially retired on Wednesday, it got people thinking about his legacy. A Super Bowl appearance, 180 regular-season starts, 41.5 sacks, 22 interceptions, 1,052 solo tackles, eight Pro Bowls, four First-Team All-Pro nominations, and his status as one of the few players to rack up the AP's Defensive Rookie of the Year (2000) and Defensive Player of the Year (2005) awards all will likely lead Urlacher to the Pro Football Hall of Fame sooner than later.

That said -- and this happens to every great player -- there are those moments one would rather forget. When Urlacher called into the Dan Patrick Show on Wednesday morning, Patrick went through many of Urlacher's great moments, and then got him to remember one of the goofier plays of the 2006 season -- which may have been Urlacher's best.

When Patrick asked Urlacher, "Who was the quarterback or running back you didn't get, and you really wanted to?" it didn't take Urlacher long to remember one particularly embarrassing play against Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. It was Week 12 of the 2006 season, and Brady -- who will hardly go down as the most mobile quarterback of all time -- managed to elude Urlacher in the open field on a fourth-quarter scramble. As you can see in the video above, it was an atypical play for several reasons.

"Brady always kicked our butts -- I don't think we ever beat [New England] when Tom Brady was the starting quarterback," Urlacher remembered. "He juked me out of my shoes in 2006."

As Patrick said, "Every white guy who couldn't move loved that play, because it was Brady who was doing it."

"Man, he really got me, and he's one of the best of all time," Urlacher concluded. "There were just some guys I had a hard time with."

Not too many, but Urlacher also remembered his first experience against Minnesota Vikings superstar back Adrian Peterson, which did not go well at all for the veteran linebacker. It was Week 5 of the 2007 season, and Urlacher said something that got up Peterson's nose. He soon found out that it was a bad place to be.

San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Michael Crabtree suffered a torn Achilles during the team's OTA practice on Tuesday and could miss the entire 2013 season, Mike Garafolo of USA Today reports.

The severity of the tear (complete or partial tear) is currently unknown and should be the determining factor for how much time Crabtree will miss. As noted by Garafolo, two players — Baltimore Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive end Da'Quan Bowers — returned to the playing field in 2012 after suffering Achilles injuries during the OTAs. Lindsay Jones of USA Today notes that, in 2011, Denver Broncos wide receiver Demaryius Thomas returned to action seven months after tearing his Achilles.

However, losing Crabtree for even part of the season would be a major blow to the 49ers as the 2009 first-round pick out of Texas Tech is coming off a breakout season. Crabtree established career-highs with 85 receptions for 1,105 yards with nine touchdowns and his involvement in the 49ers' offense increased with the insertion of Colin Kaepernick at quarterback.

Over the final seven starts, Crabtree was targeted on 10 or more passes four times as he caught 41 passes for 595 yards with five touchdowns during that stretch. Crabtree was targeted by Kaepernick on 28 passes in the 49ers' three playoff games, resulting in 20 completions for 285 yards and three touchdowns.

[Fantasy: Fallout of 49ers losing Michael Crabtree]

Geno Smith has a new agent (USA Today Sports Images)

New York Jets second-round quarterback Geno Smith has decided on a new agent, telling reporters that on Wednesday that he will sign with "Roc Nation", the sports representation agency owned by rapper Jay-Z.

Smith parted ways with his original agents, Jeff Nalley and Erik Burkhardt of the Houston-based Select Sports Group, after falling out of the first round of the 2013 NFL draft.

"When you talk about being in New York, from the standpoint of what they can do in the city, I think it's a good move," Smith said, via Connor Orr of The Star-Ledger.

According to the NFLPA agent database, the only certified contract advisor employed by Roc Nation is Kimberly Miale, a associate and civil litigator at the Boston-based law firm of Tucker, Heifetz & Saltzman. Miale has not negotiated an active NFL contract, but the 2011 collective bargaining agreement has removed much of the negotiations from the rookie signing process.

As the No. 39 overall pick in the draft, Smith will sign a four-year contract worth around $5 million with nearly $3 million guaranteed. Smith will earn $405,000 in base salary this season, will receive a signing bonus of $2,030,620 and will earn $600,000 in fully guaranteed base salary in 2014.

Parting ways with a highly experienced NFL agency for an upstart group owned by one of the most successful hip-hop artists of all time has led some to question whether or not the rookie was choosing style over substance. Smith disagrees with that assessment.

Joe Namath and Mark Sanchez in 2009. (Getty Images)

You've gotta feel for Joe Namath. The dude remains the absolute unquestioned high point of the Jets franchise, and he's stuck watching a team with its head so far up its own backfield that it's turning in a circle. What do you do if you're Joe? Gripe and moan about the state of the franchise and come off as a bitter once-was, or try — really, really TRY — to find something positive, even when you're flying in the face of reality?

Namath, to his credit, is taking the latter route. Speaking to a local coterie of football fans, Namath went all-in on supporting incumbent quarterback Mark Sanchez. “I know that Sanchez is going to play better,” he said. “He went through some major distractions last year. No matter how much you say, ‘It doesn’t bother me, that’s not a focus-breaker,’ bull. I promise you you’ll see a different guy this year."

And by "different guy," Namath means a different Sanchez, not an entirely different quarterback, though he allowed that's not completely off the table.

Justin Tuck went outside the box for new inspiration. (Tony Robbins, via ESPN.com)

New York Giants defensive lineman Justin Tuck has gone through two frustrating regular seasons in 2011 and 2012, amassing a total of 9.0 quarterback sacks after putting up 11.5 in his All-Pro season of 2010. Tuck did play the game of his life in the Giants' Super Bowl XLVI win over the New England Patriots at the end of the 2011 season, but more is expected of a man in the last year of a five-year, $30 million contract extension he signed in 2008. Giants general manager Jerry Reese recently said he had a conversation with Tuck about underperforming, and hoped that Tuck could "get back to his old form."

Tuck's held himself accountable about the whole thing, and to that end, he's found an unconventional way to try and get back on track. In March, he looked up well-known performance coach Tony Robbins, the best-selling author and successful motivational speaker who's perhaps best-known for his tactic of having people walk over hot coals to find a new level of potential.

"I realize I haven’t played my best the last two years," Tuck told Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN New York. "Whether it be injuries or the circumstances surrounding this team. Who knows? I knew it was time for me to try something different. I've had people telling me to get my butt to Robbins for two to three years now. I finally said if I am going to be dedicated to my craft and to being the best that I can be, then this has to happen."

So, Tuck and his wife, Lauran, attended one of Robbins' "Feel the Power Within!" weekend seminars, and Robbins gave Tuck some advice about some things that may have been holding him back. Living up to the reputation of Michael Strahan as the Giants' main man on the defensive line is no small task, and if you don't approach it the right way, failure can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Robbins has worked with other notable athletes -- everyone from Wayne Gretsky to Serena Williams -- so he understands the surprising fragility of the athletic temperament.

Robbins to Youngmisuk:

"He’s a really responsible guy. He is not the kind of guy to swat that off. He feels it. He feels like he is responsible to carry things to some extent. So he fails and he’s down in that state of frustration and failure and then not feeling appreciated for what he doesn’t do. And all that gets in the way of just doing your job!"