The fallout is here. Campbell finds himself in the eye of the storm. The San Francisco 49ers are looking to suspend disgraced linebacker De’Vondre Campbell for three games, according to NFL Network’s Insider Ian Rapoport.
If the punishment goes through, Campbell’s season would be over because the 49ers have just three games remaining on their schedule. One way or another, his short-lived tenure with San Francisco is all but over after he refused to go into the game in the second half in the team’s 12-6 defeat to Matthew Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams.
In the aftermath of the game, head coach Kyle Shanahan said the team intended to move on from the 31-year-old nine-year veteran and was “working through the semantics of exactly how to deal with it.”
Fox Sports’ Insider Jay Glazer followed up Sunday to report the 49ers were looking to suspend Campbell and “working with the league office to see what’s the max they can do.”
The Baltimore Ravens responded to a similar situation by suspending wide receiver Diontae Johnson for one game. A three-game ban for Campbell seems harsh by comparison.
The internal reaction along with the shock around the league to each case could help explain the dramatic difference between the punishments.
Some of Johnson’s fellow wideouts were quick to move past the story and said they were happy to keep him on the roster, including quarterback Lamar Jackson.
Campbell, on the other hand, received immediate scorn and backlash from both Shanahan and his teammates.
That is to say nothing of how people outside of the organization and the building weighed in. ESPN’s NFL analyst Ryan Clark did not hold back his feelings and went so far to say the 2021 All-Pro “should never play again.”
Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio noted that suspending Campbell would allow the 49ers to recoup as much as $167,500 from his original $3.35 million signing bonus. Then there are the checks he would forfeit for the games in which he was suspended.
Beyond the irreversible damage to his reputation, Campbell’s refusal to play will have a significant impact on his earnings for the 2024 campaign.
