Shawne Merriman Thinks De'Vondre Campbell's Career Is Over Unless He Apologizes (And Means It)

San Francisco 49ers linebacker De'Vondre Campbell has been the talk of the NFL for all the wrong reasons after he walked off the field in the middle of the Niners' 12-6 loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday Night Football.

Now, ex-NFL linebacker Shawne Merriman says that he thinks Campbell is on the fast track to being an ex-NFL linebacker as well unless he apologizes.

And he has to mean it.

Merriman — who spent his NFL career with the San Diego Chargers and the Buffalo Bills — spoke to TMZ Sports about Campbell's decision to split in the middle of the game.

"I think his reputation is done. I'd be shocked if another team decides to pick him up after the season because he now is going to be deemed unreliable," Merriman said.

I'm inclined to agree. I find it hard to believe that someone in the front office of a team dealing with even the most dire linebacker situation imaginable would say, "Hey, let's bring in that guy who just publicly quit on his last team."

That stink is going to take a bit of time to wash off.

"I've seen a lot of things, been around a lot of things, and I knew what was going to come from this when he refused to go back in the game," Merriman said. "It's one of these things that you build up your career, you do everything possible, and this one incident is what you're going to be labeled as going forward, no matter what happens."

However, Merriman said that there's one way Campbell can get out of this and that's by giving a "very heartfelt message."

"Everybody, I think, will start to understand at that critical time that he made a very, very dumb decision," Merriman explained. "And at least put him in a position to have an opportunity somewhere else. If he doesn't say anything, he's done. I just don't see another team taking a chance on someone that you can't count on."