The San Francisco 49ers have appeared to have hit rock bottom. Thought of as a championship contender to start the season, the team has endured a serious Super Bowl hangover after last year’s disappointing finish, which has included a rash of injuries and sub-par play from some of their highest paid players. And now, it appears that some players are not fully locked in and engaged in wanting to help the team win.
49ers Players & Coaches React To Campbell’s Decision
It was a frustrating night overall on Thursday evening as the 49ers took on the Los Angeles Rams. Clinging to fading postseason hopes, San Francisco was in desperate need of a win over their division rival in order to stay alive. While the defense mostly held up their end of the bargain, Brock Purdy and the offense were held without a touchdown, and the 49ers scored just 6 points on the night.
Charvarius Ward on De’Vondre Campbell refusing to play after Dre Greenlaw went out:
“That’s some sucker stuff to me. Probably gonna get cut soon.”
🎥: @mattblively pic.twitter.com/fdxxqzbRRi
— Coach Yac 🗣 (@Coach_Yac) December 13, 2024
The loss essentially puts an effective end to their season, but the drama is just starting to mount. Deebo Samuel made plenty of headlines with his poor performance after being vocal over social media this past week, but it was a defensive player whose name was on the tongues of reporters during the postgame press conferences.
During the third quarter, linebacker Dre Greenlaw was in need of a substitute. He was making his season debut after getting injured in last year’s Super Bowl, and exited the game with what coach Kyle Shanahan described as “fatigue”. The team turned to De’Vondre Campbell, the backup linebacker who is a former All-Pro and is on a one-year contract with San Francisco. But to the surprise of the coaches and the rest of the sideline, Campbell was uninterested in playing. He instead walked off of the field completely and into the locker room.
Kittle, Bosa, Others Frustrated With The Situation
Kyle Shanahan’s comments on De’Vondre Campbell not wanting to play:
“That’s somebody who doesn’t want to play football. It’s pretty simple. I think our team and myself I know how we feel about that, so. I don’t think we need to talk about him anymore.” pic.twitter.com/bS8FhQAqWU
— 95.7 The Game (@957thegame) December 13, 2024
To say that it hasn’t sat well with his teammates would be an understatement. The first to comment was Shanahan, who told reporters that Campbell said he “didn’t want to play today.” The coach said it was the first time that had ever happened between him and a player. When tight end George Kittle took the microphone, he voiced his own frustration with the situation. He said that he had never seen a player refuse to play for his teammates, and hopes to never be around that situation ever again. “Not very happy about it,” Kittle stated. “I would have had something to say. Wish I had heard about it on the field, but I didn’t.”
Nick Bosa was quoted on the situation and said, “if you’re healthy, you should play.” Cornerback Deommodore Lenoir took to Twitter to give his opinion, saying that he would never quit on his teammates or brothers. Charvaruis Ward called it “sucker stuff”.
I call you brothers deeper than the surface, blood make us related loyalty make us family I’ll never quit on ma brother no matter what happen cut from a different cloth, It can be 50 vs 1 I’m standing on all 10
— Deommodore lenoir (@Dmo_lenoir) December 13, 2024
The 49ers will now be looking towards next season and beyond. They have a tough three-game slate to close out the season, with games against the Dolphins, Lions, and Cardinals in the coming weeks. It may be the last time we see the current iteration of the team, given that they have some tough roster decisions to make during the coming off-season.
There has been no official decision made on Campbell’s future, but it is safe to assume that he has played his final game in a 49ers uniform. He had 79 tackles on the season, including 3 tackles for loss. He had played in 90% of the team’s defensive snaps before Thursday.
