De’Vondre Campbell Exclusive: Jordan Love Is Franchise Quarterback
De’Vondre Campbell is the backbone of the Green Bay Packers defense. A workhorse, Campbell recorded a team-high 14 tackles against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday. An injury limited Campbell’s early-season availability, but the former fourth-round selection is averaging nine tackles per game this season.
Campbell is teaming up with Campbell's Chunky for the Chunky Sacks Hunger National Donation Program in order to give back to a local community that’s giving him so much.
Campbell joined SI.com’s Packer Central for an exclusive conversation while hosting a food donation event at Feeding America of Northeast Wisconsin. Campbell discussed Sunday’s defeat to the Vikings, broke down his production, discussed the play of quarterback Jordan Love, staying with the Packers past the trade deadline and more. Campbell also touched on the Packers’ ascending talents on defense.
JM: You’ve teamed up with Campbell’s Chunky to host a food donation event at Feeding America of Northeast Wisconsin as part of the Chunky Sacks Hunger relief program. The program is designed to fight food inequality. Why is this cause so important to you and your family?
De’Vondre Campbell: Inflation has made life even more difficult for families in need to get adequate groceries. It’s a cause that’s very important to me. This was a great opportunity for me to contribute and give back to a community that’s been so amazing to me and my family. I partnered up with Campbell’s Chunky and Feeding America to do our part to fight hunger one hungry mouth at a time.
JM: It’s a terrific program and you all are doing amazing work together to fight food inequality. You recorded a team-high 14 tackles against the Vikings on Sunday. Do you feel like you’re back in the zone after dealing with an injury earlier this season?
De’Vondre Campbell: I feel like I’m right where I need to be. You never want to deal with an injury. Sometimes, it’s a blessing in disguise. I used that time to reset both physically and mentally. I was able to get my body back under me. I feel really good right now. I’m ready to help us make a final push down the stretch of this season.
De'Vondre Campbell
Photo by Bill Streicher/USA Today Sports Images
JM: You’ve been as productive as ever here in your eighth season. What’s been your secret to achieving long-term success in a league that as you know, can move on from aging veterans so quickly?
De’Vondre Campbell: It’s a difficult league. You hit the nail on the head. There’s an NFL draft every year. Teams bring in younger talent. NFL general managers are always looking to get younger and cheaper.
I just try to lock in. I understand that the NFL is a year-to-year sport. Sometimes, things go really well one year, and they could go bad the following year. You have to play the cards you’re dealt. Over the past two years, I’ve dealt with some unfortunate injuries.
I won’t lie to you. It’s definitely messed with me at times. I’m definitely in a better headspace now, though. I feel good mentally, and even better physically. I just want to get back to being the player I know I can be.
When things have gone well for me, I’ve always focused on what matters. I stay in the moment. I never get too far ahead of myself. I control what I can control.
JM: How happy were you to stay with the Packers past Tuesday’s trade deadline?
De’Vondre Campbell: It’s the best organization I’ve ever been a part of. I’m thrilled to still be here. Every day I wake up, I walk into that building and do everything I possibly can to stick around.
I understand that the job that I have is a blessing. It’s not a guarantee. I don’t take anything for granted. It’s not something that’s just given to you. I have to earn it every single day. That’s what I try to do.
Whatever happened was going to happen. I always put my best foot forward. That’s all I can do.
JM: What did you say to Rashan Gary following his contract extension? It’s always great to see a teammate get his well-deserved payday.
De’Vondre Campbell: I had a conversation with him after he signed that extension. Rashan and I speak every single time we see each other. Seeing the type of person he is, the type of man he is, he worked so hard to get back from that ACL injury.
Things can go one or two ways with that ACL injury. You can come back and continue to be the player that you were. But sometimes with a catastrophic injury such as that one, things happen. Your play could fall off. He made sure that didn’t happen to him. He’s the exact same player he was before the injury. In fact, he’s even more dominant and focused now.
He deserves every penny. I told him that. Things happen in this league on God’s timing. You just have to trust that and continue to put in the work. Let the chips fall where they may.
Packers LB De'Vondre Campbell was in on 14 tackles vs. the Vikings.
Photo by Wm. Glasheen/USA Today Sports Images
Rashan Gary is a workaholic. I’ve never seen someone that works as hard as he does. That ACL is a tough injury to come back from. He came back ahead of schedule and played before people thought he was ready. That’s a testament to the type of player he is.
The organization sees it. That’s why they paid him. We see it as his teammates. I’m super-proud of him.
JM: I love that. That’s an outstanding answer. You've racked up nearly 800 career tackles and counting. Who's the toughest player you've ever had to tackle?
De'Vondre Campbell: That’s a great and crazy question (laughs). I’d say one of the toughest people I’ve ever had to tackle was former Seattle Seahawks running back Chris Carson. He unfortunately had to retire early due to injuries.
JM: He was a big, tough back. You’re a veteran player that understands what it takes to be successful in this league. What are you seeing from young guys like Devonte Wyatt, Karl Brooks and Lukas Van Ness?
De’Vondre Campbell: I think they’re coming along nicely. It’s all about repetition. The thing about that is, every fan places their own expectations on social media. Most players develop at their own pace. Some develop early, others take a bit longer.
People just have to be patient. All of those guys have shown flashes of being great. They just have to continue learning what it takes to be a professional on and off the field. I think they’re doing a really good job.
They have great veterans within their position group. Kenny Clark is in the d-line room. Preston Smith and Rashan Gary are in that outside linebacker room. Those are some great mentors to learn from. I think they’ll continue to get better as they lean on those guys.
It goes back to being a professional. It’ll come. It’s just a matter of time.
JM: No player is at their best for the entire duration of a 17-game season …
De’Vondre Campbell: It’s impossible to have a great game every single weekend. We’re playing against other professional athletes who get paid a lot of money to do their job. There are going to be games where nothing goes right for you.
It’s about being resilient. It’s not about what you do at that moment. It’s about how you respond.
I keep telling my teammates the same thing. Everything we want to achieve this season is still in front of us. We aren’t where we want to be from a record perspective, but a lot of the teams that are in front of us in a playoff spot, we actually still play them on our schedule.
Even though we aren’t where we want to be, we still control our own destiny. You don’t need to be the No. 1 seed to go win the Super Bowl. We just need a seat at the table. What we do from there is on us.
I’m super-excited to see where we go from here. I’m super excited to see how we respond. Right now, we’re just focused on the Los Angeles Rams. That’s the next opponent, and they’re ahead of us in the NFC standings. It’s a huge game, and it’s the next game.
The Packers have time to save their season, De'Vondre Campbell says.
Photo by Benny Sieu/USA Today Sports Images
JM: On that topic, have you offered any words of encouragement to Jordan Love, who I know would like to play better than he has over the past few weeks. Do you see him as a long-term solution at quarterback?
De’Vondre Campbell: I’ve always been a Jordan Love advocate even before he became our starting quarterback. People have to realize that I practiced against him every single day for two-and-a-half-years until he took over the starting job. He was our scout-team quarterback.
I’ve seen the talent. I’ve watched the growth he’s made throughout the three seasons I’ve been here. I’ve told everyone that I think he’s a starting quarterback. I still believe right now that he’s a starting quarterback.
Football is a team sport. There’s a lot of things that go on that people don’t see or know about. It’s not always Jordan’s fault. Yes, Jordan can play better as well. He’d tell you that himself. There’s certain things that go on within the course of a football game that impact certain outcomes. It’s not all on Jordan. I’m not going to get into the details.
I firmly believe in Jordan Love. Our confidence in him has not wavered. It will never waver because we’ve all seen it. He’s made some special throws throughout the course of this season. There’s only a couple of people on the planet that can make those throws, and Jordan Love is one of them.
The potential is there. I tell him every day to never lose his confidence. He’s here for a reason. There’s a lot of people that wish they were in his shoes. That’s why there’s so much outside noise.
He has to realize that he plays for the most famous franchise in the world. There’s going to be people that hate him just because they want to be him. He can’t worry about that. The only thing that matters is us. We’re the ones going to war with him. As long as we believe in him, nothing else matters. We all believe in him. He’s our quarterback. We have his back.
JM: That’s an outstanding answer. We've appreciated your time today. Thank you for the terrific work you're doing to fight food inequality with Chunky Sacks Hunger. In closing, what are your goals for the remainder of the 2023 season?
De’Vondre Campbell: First and foremost, I’m going to keep fighting hunger. We had an amazing event at Feeding America of Northeast Wisconsin. Together, Campbell’s Chunky and I handed out so many amazing products to families in need.
It’s cold outside. We have to make sure people have warm meals. When it’s cold out here in Wisconsin, that metabolism goes a little quicker. We have to make sure everybody in this community is well fed. We’re delivering these meals today.
My focus will then shift to the Los Angeles Rams. We’re going to continue taking care of business one day at a time. Everything that we want out of this season is still in front of us. We just have to lock in and take it one day at a time.
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