‘What Am I Doing Wrong?’: Campbell Changes Fortunes with All-Pro Season

De’Vondre Campbell didn’t think he had anything to prove. The NFL thought otherwise. He responded with a prodigious season that made the Packers contenders and himself poised to reap the rewards.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – De’Vondre Campbell watched one free agent after another sign for tens of millions of dollars in free agency last offseason and wondered why no team was showing him the money.

In five NFL seasons, Campbell topped 90 tackles four times – including 129 tackles for Atlanta in 2019. He was dependable (five years of excellent tackling), versatile (three-down history) and durable (a 16-game starter the previous four seasons). And yet, when the league-year started on March 17, he was largely ignored in free agency. Same with April 17. And May 17.

“At that point, my honest thought process is, ‘What am I doing wrong?’” Campbell said on Thursday, two days before the Green Bay Packers will host the San Francisco 49ers in an NFC divisional playoff game. “It’s a league full of good players but I feel like I’m just as good if not better than all these guys. To see them get some of these big deals they’re getting and here I am being told that I have to basically prove myself and I’m like, ‘I don’t feel like there’s nothing I need to prove. Just check the tape. The tape don’t lie.’ I’ve been producing for years and years and years in every single role that I’ve been asked to do.”

On June 8, with free agency put in the rear-view mirror long ago, the Packers signed Campbell to a one-year deal worth $2 million. Campbell might not have thought he had anything to prove, but it was a prove-it deal. To get the contract security and money he thought he deserved, he’d have to prove it with the linebacker-hungry Packers.

Campbell did that and so much more. The Packers almost certainly wouldn’t have finished with 13 wins if not for Campbell’s consistently superb play. They almost certainly wouldn’t have been facing the 49ers on Saturday and in position to host the NFC Championship Game next weekend without Campbell posting the best year of his career.

Last week, Campbell was named first-team All-Pro to the delight of his teammates.

At a team meeting, coach Matt LaFleur said there were three All-Pros. Two were obvious – MVP quarterback Aaron Rodgers and indomitable receiver Davante Adams.

“I was thinking, ‘Well, me, Davante and it’s maybe Rasul (Douglas)? Or maybe De’Vondre? That would be amazing if it was De’Vondre,” Rodgers recalled. “When he said De’Vondre, everybody had this big smile on their face and was clapping and hooting and hollering for him, just because we love him.”

Added Adams, “We were all excited. I was way more excited for him than I was myself. Nobody more deserving on our team to be a first-team All-Pro than Dre, in my eyes.”

It was a remarkable achievement for Campbell to join Colts star Darius Leonard and touted Cowboys rookie Micah Parsons on the All-Pro team. The Packers are regulars in the free-agent linebacker aftermarket. They swung and missed with the likes of Antonio Morrison, B.J. Goodson and Christian Kirksey. With Campbell, the Packers didn’t just hit a home run. They hit a towering grand slam with Campbell’s stat-stuffing season.

“Everybody’s whole question is, ‘What’s so different? How did you just become this elite player all of a sudden?’” he said. “I’ve been the same player my whole career. My job responsibilities have just been different. I’ve never been a true Mike. I’ve never been put in a position to make plays week in and week out. That was something I was very adamant about coming into the offseason. I was going to sign somewhere that allowed to me to be the guy. Like I said, Green Bay allowed me that opportunity and I’m just thankful for it – for them believing in me when a lot of people didn’t.”

Even while sitting out the season finale against Detroit, Campbell finished seventh in the NFL with 145 tackles. He entered that final game with a league-leading 101 solo tackles. Of the 34 players with at least 107 tackles, Campbell and Washington’s Cole Holcomb were the only players with at least one sack, one interception, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. Campbell was the only linebacker in the league with 100-plus tackles and at least two sacks, two forced fumbles and two interceptions.

He tackled running backs. He covered tight ends. He was the glue to the defense.

So, Campbell knew he was deserving of All-Pro honors. He also knew he was deserving of something more than a one-year contract.

“I’m not going to say I was surprised but I was, if that makes sense, simply for the fact that I just didn’t feel like I was being talked about as much as some of the other backers across the league,” Campbell said. “I understand how it goes. People talk about who they want to talk about and the facts are the facts. I felt like there wasn’t too many linebackers that outplayed me this year and I definitely felt like I was deserving. But, I had my mind set on I can’t get offended or I can’t take it personal if it doesn’t happen. I’ve got to keep working, keep on getting better and maybe next year. But it worked out and it was just a moment that I’ll never forget because it was a goal that I set for myself and I didn’t tell too many people about it. It was definitely a warm feeling for me know that I accomplished something I set out to do.”

After being told the news, LaFleur asked Campbell to talk to the team. His message made Rodgers emotional.

“He said, ‘From Day 1, you guys made me feel important and special and a part of something special.’ That got to me, it really did,” Rodgers said. “That moment definitely got me because it’s so important to myself and our leadership and the culture we’ve tried to create to make guys feel important, to make guys feel special, to make guys feel like they’re a part of something. I just feel like that’s an underrated part of chemistry and culture that equates to winning. For him to say that was really cool to hear.”

Campbell reflected on his first day of training camp. A small thing to Rodgers was a big deal for Campbell.

“I was sitting on the ground stretching and Aaron came up and introduced himself to me,” Campbell recalled. “At first, I was like, ‘Is he joking? I know who you are.’ It’s little things like that, like, nobody being too big. It’s just a blessing and an honor to be a part of such a historical organization. I’m just thankful.”

Thankful is a two-way street. The Packers are thankful to have their first first-team All-Pro linebacker since Hall of Famer Ray Nitschke in 1966. And Campbell is thankful for being put in a position by defensive coordinator Joe Barry to show that he’s not a past-his-prime or mediocre starter. He’s one of the best in the NFL, and he presumably will be paid as such when free agency begins in about two months.

For now, Campbell’s focus is singular – winning the Super Bowl that escaped him when the Falcons blew a big lead against New England in 2016 – but this is exactly what he had in mind when he “bet on myself” and signed with Green Bay.

“Yeah, that was my whole thought process from the time I signed, just to kind of reintroduce myself,” Campbell said. “Casuals don’t really know who I am, but people who watch tape, people who know the game of football [know]. I get told week in and week out from the people I compete against, ‘You’re a hell of a player and you always have been.’ I’m just glad that people are starting to realize it. That just kind of makes me feel good. Something I’ve always known, but to hear it from other people, you always kind of need that reassurance, so that was a huge goal of mine, just kind of re-establishing myself. …

“it’s a fairy-tale situation. We’ve got to take care of the 49ers on Saturday and then keep on pushing, but the ultimate goal is to win a Super Bowl.”