San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan has admitted signing De’Vondre Campbell was a ‘mistake’ after the linebacker was suspended for the season over his refusal to play last week.
During their 12-6 defeat to the Los Angeles Rams last Thursday, Campbell refused to enter the game when called upon by Shanahan in an astonishing defiance of orders.
Instead of taking to the field at Levi’s Stadium, the 31-year-old quit on his team and left the sidelines to head back to the locker room, sparking anger in the Niners locker room.
Furious San Francisco officials responded by suspending him for the season, marking a disastrous end to his debut campaign with the team after arriving on a one-year deal back in March.
And despite stressing that they did their homework on him, Shanahan has conceded that the Niners should never have signed Campbell in the first place.’
‘I was with De’Vondre his rookie year in Atlanta, so I knew what he was capable of,’ he said. ‘Not that I was real close with the defensive guys, being the offensive coordinator there, but I know we liked him in that building.
‘I know a lot of guys who have coached him who have been good. And we obviously made a mistake.
‘It’s not something that we didn’t look into. We look into everything. You weigh the risk-reward of stuff. You weigh the situation that you have and what decision you can make in terms of the options. By no means was it our first option.
‘But at the time, with what went down, we thought it was our best option. And it didn’t work out.’
As expected the Niners handed down the punishment Monday, slapping Campbell with a three-game suspension, meaning his season is now over.
However, the team appears to have taken their exiling a step further after clearing his possessions out of the locker room, according to ESPN’s Nick Wagoner.
Campbell’s locker has been emptied out and his name plate removed, Wagoner reported earlier this week.
By suspending the player rather than waiving him, San Francisco are denying him the chance to sign elsewhere for the remainder of the season.
They reportedly felt that releasing Campbell and allowing him to join another team would be a ‘reward.’
‘We have suspended De’Vondre Campbell Sr. for three games due to conduct detrimental to the team,’ general manager John Lynch said Monday. ‘We will have no further comment on the matter.’
Teams have the ability to suspend players up to four games without pay for conduct detrimental to the team, according to the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
