San Francisco 49ers linebacker De'Vondre Campbell left Sunday's game against the Los Angeles Rams in the third quarter, heading to the locker room. Initially, many assumed it was due to an injury—despite him not playing. However, head coach Kyle Shanahan later revealed a far more surprising reason for Campbell's departure.
In the third quarter, Campbell was instructed to enter the game to replace linebacker Dre Greenlaw, who had exited due to knee soreness. Shockingly, Campbell refused.
"He said he didn't want to play today," Shanahan told reporters postgame, adding that Campbell did not explain his decision.
Visibly frustrated, Shanahan admitted it was a first for him as a coach but said he couldn't afford to dwell on the situation during the game, so he allowed Campbell to leave.
Teammates react
Campbell's actions left his teammates blindsided, with most learning of the incident only after the game. While many refrained from commenting, cornerback Charvarius Ward (Mooney) didn't hold back.
"He a professional. He been playing for a long time," Ward openly told reporters. "If he didn't want to play, he shouldn't have dressed out. He could have told [us] that before the game.
"So, I feel like that was some sucker s--t that he did. Definitely hurt the team because [LB] Dee [Winters] went down, and we needed a linebacker. And I think [LB Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles] was banged up, too.
"So, for him to do that, that's some selfish stuff to me, in my opinion. Probably gonna be cut soon, so it is what it is with that."
Here is the whole Mooney Ward exchange on De'Vondre Campbell refusing to go into the game tonight.
Mooney was brutally honest about a guy who appeared to quit on his team. #49ers | #FTTB pic.twitter.com/CT6zNcC4t1
— Matt Lively (@mattblively) December 13, 2024
When asked if Campbell would be released, Shanahan said, "We'll figure out something, but I don't know that right now."
Like Ward, tight end George Kittle was vocal about the development, expressing his disappointment with Campbell's decision.
"Look, if you're on the roster, and you're suited up, you're expected to play," Kittle said. "I think anyone in this building, if they got asked to go in, I would say 100% of everybody would die to get on that football field. People are going through random things off the field. I can't speak on that. Whatever his decision was, it wasn't for this organization, and it wasn't for this team. And that's on him.
"So, not very happy about it. I wish I would have heard about it on the field, but I didn't. Now, is that the reason we lost? Absolutely not. But it's hard to win football games when someone doesn't want to play football, especially when you're suited up. It kind of puts you down, especially when you lose two linebackers and could have dressed another one."
Not a reflection of the locker room
Shanahan dismissed concerns about Campbell's actions signaling that the coach might have lost the locker room, framing the incident as an isolated decision by the linebacker.
"I haven't lost anybody," Shanahan said. "That's somebody who doesn't want to play football. That's pretty simple. 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."
Kittle echoed Shanahan's sentiment, emphasizing that Campbell's seemingly selfish actions don't reflect the team's culture or mentality.
"That is one person who just decided not to play for his teammates," Kittle said. "... It's more one person making a, like Mooney said, a selfish decision, and I'm with Mooney on that. I've never been around anybody that's ever done that, and I hope I'm never around anybody that does that again."
Regarding the distraction, Kittle added, "I think it's just dumb. It's just stupid, and it's very immature. And I just don't see how you can do something like that to your team."
