There was a chance the 49ers could’ve avoided De’Vondre Campbell’s dramatics against the Rams.
On Monday, Nick Bosa revealed it wasn’t surprising to see Campbell quit on the 49ers. In fact, he says he saw it coming.
“I actually did. In the locker room before the game, I heard some complaining,” Bosa said. “I was going to say something. Didn’t because I didn’t want to create more of a distraction, but kind of felt it. So yeah, I kind of saw the foreshadowing. I definitely didn’t think it was going to result in that. Didn’t know it happened during the game.”
Bosa says he has no regrets about not saying anything to Campbell in hindsight. If he wasn’t a captain and leader on the 49ers, then by all means, refrain from confronting him. However, Bosa is a captain and leader of the team. For him to neglect those responsibilities is unbecoming of his role.
Imagine if he was able to talk to Campbell. Chances are that he ends up calming Campbell down and plays. Or maybe Campbell becomes a last-minute healthy scratch to avoid the optics of him quitting on the team and heading to the locker room in the third quarter.
Bosa isn’t the only player who has proven unfit for the captain role. Deebo Samuel has been unbecoming of a captain, from his physical altercation with long-snapper Taybor Pepper in Week 10 to complaining on social media about his lack of involvement in the offense.
Bosa and Samuel aren’t fit to be 49ers captains. They should relinquish their roles or have them revoked. Doing so at this late in the season is highly unlikely, but I bet their captain roles, especially Samuel assuming he’s still on the team, will be up in the air for 2025.
These two should be better than they have been as captains and leaders. Samuel has shown zero indication of taking the initiative to be a positive one. If anything, he’s proven to be a toxic figure for the 49ers. As for Bosa, he’s too nonchalant about it all, which is fine if he’s not a captain.
So, one player is the complete opposite of a captain, while the other is disinterested in being one. You could argue it’s selfish of them, which makes you wonder if the locker room is as sturdy as the players are claiming. Regardless, captain duties should go elsewhere in 2025 for the 49ers.
