49ers Suspend De’Vondre Campbell For Rest Of Season After He Refused To Enter TNF Game
The San Francisco 49ers have suspended linebacker De'Vondre Campbell for the rest of the season after he refused to enter Thursday's game, effectively ending his tenure with the team.
In the fourth quarter of the 12-6 loss to the Los Angeles Rams, Campbell was set to relieve an injured teammate. Instead, though, he told head coach Kyle Shanahan he didn't want to play. Then, Campbell walked to the locker room with a towel over his head.
A ninth-year vet and former All-Pro, Campbell was lower on the depth chart for the evening since defensive stalwart Dre Greenlaw had just returned from an Achilles injury he sustained in last year's Super Bowl. Having started all season up to that point, Campbell was frustrated about taking a backseat to Greenlaw.
But frustration isn't an excuse to quit on your team. And after the game, Shanahan and multiple players said as much, with cornerback Charvarius Ward adding that Campbell is "probably going to get cut soon."
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On Friday, Shanahan made it clear that the Niners were done with Campbell, and they just needed to sort out the details.
"We're working through the semantics of exactly how to deal with it," Shanahan said. "But I mean you guys heard from me last night, you guys heard from our players. His actions from the game, it's not something you can do to your team or your teammates and still get to be a part of our team. We're working through exactly the semantics of it right now, but we'll handle the situation appropriately."
De’Vondre Campbell quit in the middle of Thursday night's game.
(Scott Strazzante/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)
If the 49ers had cut Campbell instead, he would have been allowed to land with another team to play out the rest of the year. By simply suspending him for conduct detrimental to the team, San Francisco both eliminates that possibility and avoids paying the 31-year-old his final three game checks.
Campbell signed a one-year, $5 million contract with the Niners in March, meaning he will be an unrestricted free agent after the season.