Cardinals defensive end Calais Campbell sent an apology via text message to Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill after a Campbell hit on Tannehill during Sunday’s game caused Tannehill to suffer a sprained ACL.
“It definitely wasn’t on purpose,” Campbell told the Cardinals’ official website. “I’ve never been that kind of guy. I never will be that kind of guy.”
Campbell was not flagged for the hit, and he said he was just “playing hard” when he was shoved by Dolphins tackle Branden Albert while rushing the passer and ended up hitting Tannehill’s left knee.
“In football, injuries happen too often,” Campbell said. “You try and eliminate them from the game; it’s never on purpose. You are playing as hard as you can and bad things happen sometimes. I’m glad it wasn’t as bad as it originally seemed. I’m definitely hoping he comes back this year. They’re a good team and there is a lot riding on it. So I’m praying for him.”
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gunn34, SICK, KeyFin and 1 other person like this.
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I thought the same thing lol
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Campbell has always been a stand up guy. Classy player and a true professional. Of course he didn't do it on purpose. I know people were upset, but this is football and stuff happens.
MikeHoncho and gilv13 like this. -
Well, good for him. I'm sure it wasn't intentional, it did look like Albert's block may have influenced it a bit too.
However, It's the second time he's been nailed for a hit like that in this season alone, first one was around a $19k fine IIRC, should be interesting to see what the league does this time around.MikeHoncho and gilv13 like this. -
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He was so far away from Tannehill, that if he was actually influenced by Albert, he shouldn't have continued driving towards Tannehill's legs.
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Been nice if Albert had actually finished his block instead of letting him by, but even if Calais had hit Tannehill low with his pads into Tannehill's knee like the replay and pics show, he had Tannehill's ankle trapped preventing Tannehill from jumping back, sliding his foot, etc...
Reminds me of the jets trainer throwing a leg out to trip Nolan Carroll a few years. Yeah, he felt terrible about it afterwards once the guy was injured and he was widely panned for it - but it didn't stop him from doing it at the time. -
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Thought it was Dan Campbell for a sec
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Not ready to call Calais a dirty player just yet, but he's got the history of this.
Text is kinda weak-sauce come to think of it. -
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His apology is garbage. The hit was blatant and he's been fined earlier this year for something similar from what I understand.
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Uhhh, bulls**t.
It doesn't matter if he planned to do it before the snap. He did it. Going low into a QBs knee is a dirty play. End. Of. Story.
If I accidentally run a red light because I'm careless, it's the same as if I blow through it because I'm a jerk. Either way I'm still getting a ticket. Intent doesn't matter.resnor likes this.