George Kittle's comments on De'Vondre Campbell prove San Francisco 49ers had no choice

De’Vondre Campbell's fate with the San Francisco 49ers was sealed after George Kittle's brutal verdict on the linebacker's decision to quit on his teammates in Thursday's defeat to the Los Angeles Rams.

The Niners' hopes of making the playoffs were pushed to the brink by their NFC West rivals, succumbing to a 12-6 defeat at Levi's Stadium. But the headlines have instead been dominated by Campbell's refusal to enter the game in the third quarter, walking down the sideline and into the tunnel. Nine-year NFL veteran Campbell, 31, had started 12 of San Francisco's 13 games before Thursday's showdown with the Rams, but he was benched to make way for Dre Greenlaw, who was making his first appearance since suffering a ruptured Achilles in the Super Bowl defeat to the Kansas City Chiefs in February. Campbell did not take kindly to the decision, and when Greenlaw left the game in the third quarter complaining of soreness in his problem Achilles, the former First-Team All-Pro refused to replace him. To compound matters, he headed for the locker room.

Campbell's actions have been blasted by his teammates and pundits alike, and head coach Kyle Shannahan has confirmed the linebacker will never play for the 49ers again.

“His actions from the game are not something you can do to your team or teammates and still expect to be a part of our team,” Shanahan said at his Friday press conference. “We’re working through the semantics right now, but we’ll handle the situation appropriately. Campbell's future had already been decided in the immediate aftermath of the game, though. His place on the roster became untenable when the likes of star tight end Kittle and defensive back Charvarius Ward spoke out.

"It's just one person who decided not to play for his teammates, and I don't think that makes the offense or the defense think 'Hey, we're falling apart.' It was one person making a selfish decision," Kittle said