The San Francisco 49ers are looking to hit linebacker De’Vondre Campbell with a max suspension after he refused to enter the game on Thursday night.
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The 49ers don’t want to release Campbell. The team is currently working with the league office to pursue a maximum suspension for Campbell, which would prevent him from joining another team.
General manager John Lynch confronted Campbell after learning about his refusal to play after injuries to linebackers piled up. The organization views Campbell joining another team as a “reward” for his actions and are trying to avoid releasing him, according to Jay Glazer.
By seeking a suspension, the 49ers will also be able to redeem a portion of Campbell’s signing bonus money.
“His actions from the game are not something you can do to your team or teammates and still be a part of our team,” head coach Kyle Shanahan said. “We’re working through the semantics of (the process) but we’ll handle the situation accordingly.”
Campbell refused to participate in the divisional matchup with the Rams after finding out he was no longer in the starting lineup due to Dre Greenlaw’s long-awaited return.
Campbell left for the locker room in the fourth quarter to express his disinterest in helping his team.
“Look, if you’re on the roster you’re expected to play,” George Kittle said postgame. “I think anyone in this building that got asked to go in I would say 100 percent of everybody would die to get on that football field. And so, people go through or going through random things off the field I can’t speak on that. You know whatever his decision was, it wasn’t for this organization, it wasn’t for this team, and you know that’s on him. Not very happy about it, I would have something to say. I wish I would have heard about it on the field. Now is that the reason we lost? Absolutely not. It’s hard to win football games when someone doesn’t wanna play football, especially when you’re suited up.”
The 2024 season has been a difficult season for the 49ers, on and off the field. Trent Williams’ wife gave birth to a stillborn just a few weeks ago, yet he’s still working hard to return to the field. Charvarius Ward lost his one-year-old daughter earlier this season but recently joined the team.
Meanwhile, Campbell’s refusing to play because he was upset that he wasn’t in the starting lineup is an egregious action in light of what his teammates have been going through.
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