De'Vondre Campbell quits on 49ers, adds more disappointment to bad season

Linebacker De'Vondre Campbell quit on the San Francisco 49ers during Thursday night's must-win game against the division-rival Los Angeles Rams, and his teammates have made it clear he isn't welcomed in that locker room anymore.

Campbell exited the game in the third quarter after telling the coaching staff he didn't feel like playing, according to head coach Kyle Shanahan.

Kyle Shanahan's comments on De'Vondre Campbell not wanting to play:

"That's somebody who doesn't want to play football. It's pretty simple. I think our team and myself I know how we feel about that, so. I don't think we need to talk about him anymore." pic.twitter.com/bS8FhQAqWU
— 95.7 The Game (@957thegame) December 13, 2024

Campbell has started 12 of the 13 games he's played in this season and, in Dre Greenlaw's first game back from an Achilles injury, walked out on the 49ers.

Shanahan seems like he doesn't care to have Campbell back, nor do Charvarius Ward or George Kittle.

Ward was the most blunt with his opinion on Campbell, describing his actions as "sucker stuff."

"If he didn't want to play, he shouldn't have dressed out," Ward said. "He's probably going to get cut soon, so it is what it is with that."

Here is the whole Mooney Ward exchange on De'Vondre Campbell refusing to go into the game tonight.

Mooney was brutally honest about a guy who appeared to quit on his team. #49ers | #FTTB pic.twitter.com/CT6zNcC4t1
— Matt Lively (@mattblively) December 13, 2024

For Kittle, one of the three best players on the 49ers, it was very simple.

He thought Campbell brought an "ignorant," "immature" and unnecessary distraction to the team on Thursday. He also said he hopes to never play with someone like Campbell again.

George Kittle on his disappointment in De’Vondre Campbell for abandoning the 49ers team: pic.twitter.com/9oXFyt6zG1
— David Lombardi (@LombardiHimself) December 13, 2024

Kittle had a real honest postgame press conference, even giving struggling wide receiver Deebo Samuel some tough love.

"There's things that you just have to take on the chin," Kittle said of Samuel. "Talk to the media. Take ownership of whatever you had said before, how you played tonight. ...Leave it in the past and move on."

George Kittle's message to Deebo Samuel after a rough outing:

"There's things that you just have to take on the chin... talking to the media, taking ownership over what you had said before... how you played tonight, take ownership over it... leave it in the past and move on..." pic.twitter.com/K9h3inMQIr
— Kevin Krueger (@kevinkruegs) December 13, 2024

Samuel has been a very vocal player in the media, making appearances on FanDuel's Up and Adams and speaking via his own social media platforms. He was very vocal about the 49ers being better than the Philadelphia Eagles in 2022 and is always super confident in his abilities.

However, Samuel's limitations as a wide receiver have been exposed, and his performance in the backfield is on the decline. He has just 664 total yards and two total touchdowns this season. Without All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey and All-Pro wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, Samuel hasn't stepped up to be the help that quarterback Brock Purdy needs.

The Deebo Samuel noise is going to get a lot louder after this third down drop... pic.twitter.com/PhXVptCivh
— Arye Pulli (@AryePulliNFL) December 13, 2024

Campbell's in-game exit puts an emphasis on the theme of the season for the 49ers: selfishness and a lack of focus. The season was doomed as soon as Aiyuk began his offseason holdout, and the dirt was shoveled onto San Francisco's grave once the team caught the injury bug. Now, another issue presents itself entering the offseason: Purdy's extension.

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