The De’Vondre Campbell debacle knows no end.
49ers defensive back Deommodore Lenoir chimed in on the chorus of condemnation Monday, calling Campbell a “cancer to the team.”
Deommodore Lenoir says he “lost all respect” for De’Vondre Campbell and calls him a “cancer to the team”#49ers | @sportslarryk pic.twitter.com/cYYpkTZRh9
— Kevin Krueger (@kevinkruegs) December 16, 2024
“For that to happen, for him to do that, I just lost all respect,” Lenoir, 25, said.
Campbell’s decision to quit on his 49ers teammates in the middle of San Francisco’s Week 15 matchup against the Los Angeles Rams on “Thursday Night Football” has drawn criticism from every corner of the football-watching world.
Lenoir’s chastising comes just one day after 49ers general manager John Lynch announced Campbell, 31, had been suspended for the remainder of the season “due to conduct detrimental to the team.”
It’s been a far fall for Campbell, now in his ninth season in the league.
The Florida native was a fourth-round pick in the 2016 NFL Draft and played the first four years of his career with the Falcons. Campbell served subsequent stints in Arizona and then Green Bay — where he earned his first and only All-Pro honors — before the Packers released him ahead of the 2024 season.
The veteran agreed to a deal with the 49ers five days later.
“When he first got signed, I was thinking in my head like, ‘We got another guy that we can add to the defense, [another guy] that can contribute,’” Lenoir said Monday.
Campbell started 12 games in 2024 but was replaced late in the season when 27-year-old linebacker Dre Greenlaw returned to full health.
Greenlaw was re-injured during the third quarter of the Niners loss, and Campbell was tapped to take up his place. The linebacker refused, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters after his team’s 12-6 defeat.
“I mean you guys heard from me last night, you guys heard from our players — [Campbell’s] actions from the game, it’s not something you can do to your team or your teammates and still get to be a part of our team,” Shanahan told reporters the following day. “We’re working through exactly the semantics of it right now, but we’ll handle the situation appropriately.”
