Controversy erupted for the San Francisco 49ers after De’Vondre Campbell told the team he didn’t want to play anymore and left the game in the third quarter of a loss to the Los Angeles Rams in Week 15 of the 2024 NFL season, according to head coach Kyle Shanahan. Tight end George Kittle didn’t hold back in his reaction to his teammate’s strange decision.
A divisional loss to the Rams all but eliminated the 49ers from the playoffs. With three weeks left in the regular season, the San Francisco franchise trailed Los Angeles by two wins, putting its postseason hopes in jeopardy. At a crucial time, Campbell’s decision has ignited a firestorm of controversy among his teammates.
Campbell was active in Thursday night’s game against the Rams, but never took the field. The 49ers linebacker simply walked to the sideline, quit the team and refused to play. It was an unusual situation. The veteran Kittle‘s reaction to his teammate’s stance was clear.
What did George Kittle say about Campbell’s strange decision?
“It’s one person making a selfish decision. I’ve never been around anybody that’s ever done that, and I hope I’m never around anybody who does that again. I’m a leader on the team, and if that is something that is being a distraction on the sideline, I would’ve loved to voice my own opinion in the moment. It was an ignorant and immature decision,” strongly said Kittle about Campbell talking with ESPN.
49ers CB Charvarius Ward also reacted to the situation
Kittle was not the only 49ers player who had a strong reaction to Campbell’s strange decision to leave the field in the loss to the Rams. “He’s a professional. He’s been playing a long time. If he didn’t want to play, he shouldn’t have come out. He could have told them that before the game. It definitely hurt the team because Dee Winters went down. We needed a linebacker. He’ll probably be cut soon,” Ward told KPIX.
Was Campbell an important player for the 49ers?
Campbell had been a starting linebacker for the 49ers all season, but was left off the team that started Thursday night’s game against the Rams when linebacker Dre Greenlaw returned from his long-term Achilles injury. His move was even more curious when it was learned that the former Green Bay Packer was scheduled to play against Los Angeles. When Greenlaw came out, Campbell retired.
Will Campbell be cut from the 49ers’ roster?
Campbell’s stance was so strange that there is no set protocol for penalizing a player for a work stoppage, as it is highly unlikely to happen. Head coach Kyle Shanahan did not answer definitively when asked if the 49ers will cut Campbell, but his opinion is in line with the reaction of his players.
“We’ll come up with something, but I don’t know right now. When someone says that, you have to move on. You don’t have to deal with those kinds of attitudes anymore. If someone doesn’t want to play soccer, the situation becomes pretty simple,” Shanahan said regarding the decision the 49ers will make in the face of Campbell’s walkout.