There are often players who don’t think TV analysts fairly present their side of the story. The latest there is San Francisco 49ers linebacker De’Vondre Campbell, who remains under contract with the team through March, but last played for them in Week 14 of this past season. He reportedly refused to play in their Week 15 game, leading to the team suspending him.
But on X Friday, Campbell went off on critics in a profane rant. He started by bashing fans on social media, then went after actual TV analysts and 49ers executives, including general manager John Lynch. And he said media members got his story wrong and didn’t reach out to him. But he didn’t particularly clarify what his side of the story is, saying just “I know the truth and don’t care to clear anything up.”
This all started with a post from Campbell praising former coach Keith Armstrong (who was the special teams coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons during much of Campbell’s 2016-19 stint there), but bashing “soft” treatment of current players:
That alone wouldn’t have been much, but it prompted some criticism from other X users for Campbell’s alleged quitting on the 49ers. And he went off in response (language warning):
That, understandably, prompted further criticism. And Campbell reacted to that by laughing at critics and saying they can’t get under his skin.
It’s understandable why Campbell is upset if he thinks what the 49ers put out on him refusing to play is inaccurate. And that did lead to a lot of commentary that was highly critical of him; while he didn’t spell out who he was upset about here, ESPN’s Ryan Clark, FS1’s Emmanuel Acho, and more were amongst those who had a lot to say about Campbell. But it doesn’t help to clear any of that up if he won’t actually talk about his side of the story publicly.
While De’Vondre Campbell might have said more in individual conversations with media members if they had reached out to him, that’s far from clear as well given his refusal to comment publicly. Still, it’s certainly notable to see him going in on fans, media, and the 49ers, and that may raise some questions for other teams thinking about signing him once his San Francisco contract expires.