San Francisco 49ers linebacker are expected to release linebacker De’Vondre Campbell after he refused to enter the game during the team’s loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday.
Not only did Campbell refused to play when summoned, he left the sideline and walked back to the locker room in the third quarter of 49ers’ 12-6 loss, a setback that likely slammed the door on what little hope the 49ers (6-8) had of earning a playoff berth.
The loss wasn’t what people were talking about on Friday, it was Campbell. Campbell, who had started in 12. games this season, was replaced in the starting lineup Dre Greenlaw on Thursday. Greenlaw suffered a knee injury in the third quarter and Campbell was asked to replace Greenlaw. He refused to enter the game, coach Kyle Shanahan said.
“He said he didn’t want to play today,” San Francisco coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters after the game.
Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles, the team’s only healthy player at the position, went in instead.
Quitting on a team in the middle of a game seems like one of those cardinal sins in professional sports. The 49ers could suspend Campbell or just release him. Shanahan hinted Campbell won’t be a member of the team much longer and said the team is “figuring out something.”
“His actions from the game are not something you can do to your team or teammates and still expect to be a part of our team,” Shanahan told reporters after the game.
Campbell signed a one-year, $5 million contract in March to join the 49ers. He appeared in 13 games (12 starts), posting 79 tackles, including three for loss, along with two passes defended.
Based on the reactions of Campbell’s teammates, it seems like they don’t want him back in the locker room.
“It’s one person making a selfish decision,” San Francisco tight end George Kittle told reporters after the game. “I’ve never been around anybody that’s ever done that, and I hope I’m never around anybody who does that again.”
Safety Charvarius Ward said if Campbell didn’t want to play, he should have told the coaching staff before the game instead of waiting until players were injured during the game.
“He’s a professional. 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,” Ward told reporters after the game. “I feel like that was some sucka (stuff) that he did. It definitely hurt the team. Dee went down and we needed a linebacker. … So, for him to do that, that’s some sucka stuff to me, in my opinion. He’s probably going to get cut soon.”
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