Former All-Pro seals his 49ers fate with bizarre decision during season-ending loss to the Rams
The San Francisco 49ers needed all hands on deck for their Week 15 clash with the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday, which was a must-win for their playoff hopes. But when called upon, De'Vondre Campbell was not prepared to provide assistance. Speaking in his postgame press conference after the 49ers' 12-6 defeat to the Rams […]
The San Francisco 49ers needed all hands on deck for their Week 15 clash with the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday, which was a must-win for their playoff hopes.
But when called upon, De'Vondre Campbell was not prepared to provide assistance.
Speaking in his postgame press conference after the 49ers' 12-6 defeat to the Rams that effectively ended their season, head coach Kyle Shanahan revealed the former All-Pro linebacker said he did not want to play when asked to go into the game for the returning Dre Greenlaw in the third quarter.
Greenlaw left with soreness and fatigue in his first game back from the Achilles injury he suffered in the Super Bowl.
Campbell subsequently went back to the locker room. With Greenlaw out and Dee Winters suffering a neck injury, Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles played the rest of the game at WILL linebacker next to Fred Warner.
Shanahan was pressed several times on Campbell's decision to effectively quit on the team in the middle of a must-win game but refused to say directly whether the former Atlanta Falcon and Green Bay Packer would now be released.
"We'll figure out something," Shanahan said.
Cornerback Charvarius Ward was more direct.
Speaking to reporters in the locker room, Ward said of Campbell: "He a professional, he's been playing for a long time. If he didn't want to play he shouldn't have dressed.
"He could have told them before the game. I feel like that was some sucker shit he did. Definitely hurt the team. For him to do that, that's some sucker stuff for me. Probably going to be cut soon."
Added tight end George Kittle: "It's hard to win football games when someone doesn't want to play football.
"I've never been around anybody that's done that, and I hope I'm never around anyone that does that again."
The 49ers over the years have put a premium on getting the right characters in the locker room. It is clear now that Campbell was not the right character and, while Shanahan would not say definitively that he will be cut, Ward's prediction appears likely to come true in the near future.
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