The San Francisco 49ers suffered a disappointing defeat on “Thursday Night Football,” losing to the Los Angeles Rams 12-6 and effectively ending their postseason hopes.
This season has been filled with frustration for the 49ers, but Thursday’s game introduced an unexpected twist involving veteran linebacker De’Vondre Campbell.
Campbell, signed by San Francisco in the offseason to fill in for Dre Greenlaw during his Achilles recovery, found himself in a controversial situation during the game.
De’Vondre Campbell Refuses to Play vs. Rams
During the third quarter, Campbell was asked to substitute for Greenlaw, who was making his season debut after recovering from injury. However, Campbell declined to enter the game and returned to the locker room instead.
The reason for Campbell’s refusal remains unclear, but it may have been tied to frustration over losing his starting role to Greenlaw.
The Amazon Prime postgame panel addressed the incident, with analysts criticizing Campbell’s decision. Former players Richard Sherman and Tony Gonzalez both agreed that Campbell’s actions warranted his release.
“It’s frustration, and you can kind of empathize with him to a degree, but you quit on your team,” Sherman said. “You can’t do that in the National Football League.”
The panel also compared Campbell’s decision to other mid-game exits, including Antonio Brown’s departure from the Buccaneers and Vontae Davis retiring mid-game with the Bills.
49ers Respond to Campbell’s Exit
After the game, head coach Kyle Shanahan commented on the situation, explaining what transpired.
“He said he didn’t want to play today,” Shanahan said. “We’ll figure out something.”
Shanahan continued: “When someone says that, you move on. You don’t deal with that anymore. 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. I don’t think we need to talk about him anymore.”
Cornerback Charvarius Ward expressed a similar sentiment when asked about Campbell’s actions.
“For him to do that, that’s some selfish stuff to me in my opinion,” Ward said. “He’s probably going to get cut soon.”
Tight end George Kittle also weighed in, calling Campbell’s decision “selfish” during his postgame remarks.
“I just don’t see how you could do something like that to your team,” Kittle said.
De’Vondre Campbell’s 2024 Season Stats
Before Thursday’s game, Campbell had participated in all 13 games of the 2024 season, starting 12 of them. He had played 90% of the defensive snaps, tallying 79 tackles and three tackles for loss.
Over his nine-year NFL career with the Falcons, Packers, and 49ers, Campbell has appeared in 128 games, recording at least 90 tackles in six seasons.
