The San Francisco 49ers have removed all traces of linebacker De’Vondre Campbell from the team’s locker room after he refused to play.
Earlier on Monday, it was announced that the franchise had suspended Campbell for the remainder of the season following his conduct during last week’s Thursday Night Football.
Campbell, who was replaced as starter by Dre Greenlaw, refused to enter the game in the third quarter after the 12-6 loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
As expected, the Niners imposed the punishment on Monday, handing Campbell a three-game suspension.
However, the team appears to have gone a step further with Campbell’s ban by removing his belongings from the locker room, the newspaper said. ESPN’s Nick Wagoner.
Campbell’s locker was reportedly emptied and his name tag removed, Wagoner reported.
De’Vondre Campbell (left) refused to participate in the San Francisco 49ers’ game on Thursday
49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan needed the defensive lineman to get in in the third quarter
By suspending him instead of cutting Campbell, the Niners are denying him the opportunity to sign elsewhere for the remainder of the season.
The team reportedly felt that releasing Campbell and allowing him to join another team would be a “reward.”
“We have De’Vondre Campbell Sr. suspended for three games for conduct detrimental to the team,” general manager John Lynch said Monday. “We do not wish to comment further on the matter.”
Teams have the option to suspend players for up to four games without pay for conduct detrimental to the team, according to the collective bargaining agreement.
The suspension had been expected since Friday, when head coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters that the linebacker will not be part of the team going forward.
“His actions out of the game are not something you can do to your team or teammates and still expect to be part of our team,” Shanahan said Friday.
Campbell signed a one-year, $5 million contract with San Francisco in March.
He had started 12 of the first 13 games of the season and played 90 percent of the defensive snaps for the 49ers, but was benched Thursday night after Greenlaw returned for his first game since tearing his left Achilles tendon in last Super Bowl season.
When the 49ers wanted to put Campbell in the game in the third quarter because Greenlaw was sidelined with soreness in his Achilles tendon, Campbell refused, something Shanahan said has never happened to him in his time as a head coach or assistant in the NFL. Shanahan said Friday that he hasn’t received any explanation from Campbell as to why he wasn’t playing.
Campbell then walked off the field with a towel draped over his head and entered the locker room before the end of the game with the Rams, almost ending the 49ers’ playoff hopes. Shanahan said he did not send Campbell to the locker room and did not know why he left the field.