De’Vondre Campbell suspended by San Francisco 49ers until end of season after refusing to play

By Jamie Barton, CNN

(CNN) — The San Francisco 49ers have suspended linebacker De’Vondre Campbell for three games – the rest of the regular season – after he refused to enter his team’s game in the third quarter of a 12-6 loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday night. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport was first to report the 49ers were planning to suspend Campbell.

“We have suspended De’Vondre Campbell for three games due to conduct detrimental to the team,” 49ers president of football operations and general manager John Lynch said in a statement issued Monday. “We will have no further comment on the matter.”

Campbell was summoned to enter the game to replace Dre Greenlaw, who was making his return from the Achilles injury he sustained in last year’s Super Bowl, but told head coach Kyle Shanahan that he would not play, before walking to the locker room before the end of the game.

In a call with reporters Friday, Shanahan said that he did not expect Campbell to be part of the team from Week 16 onward.

“His actions from the game, it’s not something you can do to your team or your teammates and still expect to be a part of our team,” he said.

Campbell was also criticized by his teammates. Cornerback Charvarius Ward, who was playing in his third game since returning following the death of his daughter, said on Thursday: “I mean, if he didn’t want to play, he shouldn’t have dressed out, he could’ve told them that before the game. So, I feel like that was some sucka sh*t that he did. Definitely hurt the team. Cause Dee (Greenlaw) went down, and we needed a linebacker.

“That’s some sucka stuff to me, in my opinion. Probably going to get cut soon, so it is what it is with that.”

Tight end George Kittle called Campbell’s decision “selfish,” adding: “It’s hard to win football games when someone doesn’t want to play football.”

With San Francisco having a less than 1% chance of making the playoffs according to Next Gen Stats’ model, Campbell – who signed a one-year, $5 million contract in March – has almost certainly played his last game for the team.

By opting to suspend the former All-Pro rather than waive him, San Francisco will ensure that he cannot join another team. He will also not be paid for the remainder of the season.

The 31-year-old joined the 49ers as a stand-in for the injured Greenlaw and had played 12 of 13 games before being benched on Thursday.

Despite leaving the loss to the Rams, Greenlaw is expected to be healthy for San Francisco’s game against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday.

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