Last week when the San Francisco 49ers kicked off Week 15 against the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday Night Football, there was one major storyline that came from the loss.
No, it wasn't the fact that the Niners are now hanging onto their playoff hopes by a mere half a thread. Although, that was certainly a difficult pill to swallow. Other than the loss to a division rival all but eliminating them from the postseason, the 49ers also witnessed one of their own players quit on the team.
For those just catching up, Niners linebacker De'Vondre Campbell walked out on the team after being asked to enter the game in the third quarter. Campbell was already frustrated with being replaced by Dre Greenlaw to begin the game, but when Greenlaw exited with an injury and Campbell was called on, he refused.
Greenlaw was activated and ended up starting for the first time, this season, after coming back from a torn Achilles he suffered in the Super Bowl earlier this year. It was his starting job before Campbell ever signed with the team, and Greenlaw deserved to come back into his role as soon as he was healthy. After all, Campbell wasn't exactly playing All Pro football anyway.
Following Campbell's walking out on his team, the 49ers proceeded to suspend him for three games which would basically end his time with the franchise. Head coach Kyle Shanahan even went so far as to call the team's signing of Campbell "a mistake."
De'Vondre Campbell quitting on the 49ers is going to be a story for quite some time
In Week 16's Saturday matchup between the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers, the topic of Campbell quitting came up on the live broadcast.
Former NFL quarterback and current commentator, Tom Brady, took it upon himself to bring up the incident when talking about Ravens defensive lineman Kyle Van Noy:
"He broke his eye socket early in the season ... basically playing with a broken face. And I see other guys walking out on their teammates because they don't want to play."
This might have been news to some fans, as Van Noy suffered a broken orbital bone back in September. Or, maybe others might have forgotten about the injury. But, Van Noy has indeed been playing this season with quite the injury.
And, in the meantime, yes, there are some players who choose to walk out on their teammates because they didn't want to play. Maybe, one day, we'll get an honest answer from Campbell as to why he didn't want to come back into the game.
For now, we'll just continue to say it was a classic case of a grown man not being able to deal with hurt feelings.