Fort Myers native, and current San Francisco 49ers linebacker, De'Vondre Campbell is in the hot seat after refusing to play in a pivotal NFC West showdown on Thursday night.
San Francisco welcomed the Los Angeles Rams to Levi's Stadium for a contest in what may be the tightest playoff race in the National Football League.
Current division standings (post-Thursday night game):
- Seattle Seahawks: 8-5
- Los Angeles Rams: 8-6
- Arizona Cardinals: 6-7
- San Francisco 49ers: 6-8
Campbell, a Cypress Lake High School alum, refused to enter the game in the third quarter after losing his starting job when Dre Greenlaw returned to action after recovering from a torn left Achilles in the 2023-24 Super Bowl.
The linebacker had started 12 of the first 13 games of the season while logging 90% of defensive snaps, but was benched during the 49ers 12-6 loss at home.
Greenlaw made his first start of the season on Thursday, but exited the game in the third quarter with soreness in his Achilles.
That's when Campbell was called upon to enter the game, but the nine-year veteran refused to take the field. Instead, Campbell left the sidelines for the locker room.
“He said he didn’t want to play today,” head coach Kyle Shanahan said after the loss, which left the 49ers on the verge of playoff elimination.
Shanahan said he has never seen that before in the entirety of his coaching career and said the team will "figure something out" on how to deal with it moving forward.
"I haven't lost anybody," Shanahan responded in a post-game press conference. "That's somebody who doesn't want to play football, that's pretty simple. I mean, I think our team and myself, we know how we feel about that. So I don't think we need to talk about him anymore."
Shanahan is correct, Campbell's teammates do know how they feel regarding the situation as they chimed in during post game interviews.
“He’s a professional,” cornerback Charvarius Ward said. “He’s been playing for a long time. If he didn’t want to play he shouldn’t have dressed out. He could have told them that before the game. I feel like that was some selfish (stuff) that he did. It definitely hurt the team. Dre went down and we needed a linebacker. ... For him to do that, that’s some selfish (stuff) to me in my opinion. He’s probably going get cut soon.”
Campbell signed a one-year, $5 million deal this past offseason with the 49ers after the Green Bay Packers cut him in March.
“It’s one person making a selfish decision,” tight end George Kittle said. “I’ve never been around anybody that’s ever done that and I hope I’m never around anybody who does that again.”
Campbell has started 13 games this season, logging 79 total tackles, three tackles for loss and zero sacks.
The past three seasons haven't been kind to Campbell as he has recorded a sack since 2021 when he finished first overall in the All-Pro race for inside linebackers.
In 2021, Campbell recorded a career-high 146 combined tackles, two sacks, two interceptions, two forced fumbles and five passes defensed.
It’s hard to imagine a scenario where Campbell is accepted in the locker room after Thursday's antics.
The question now, what's next for Campbell? While Shanahan didn't commit to releasing the linebacker, many analysts are spectating that to be the case within the next week.
The more likely outcome is that he’ll be suspended for conduct detrimental to the team, the same way the Ravens suspended receiver Diontae Johnson for refusing to enter a Week 13 game against the Eagles.
That would allow the 49ers to keep one or more game checks, while also giving them the right to recover a portion of his $3.35 million signing bonus.
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