There are all different kinds of storybook endings to a professional sports career. Sometimes it’s riding off into the sunset with a championship trophy raised above your head. Other times it’s just simply going out on your own terms. And then in the case of Arizona Cardinals defensive lineman Calais Campbell, there’s the version where you go back to where your career began.
“Coming back here just made sense. A team on the cusp, in position to do some things, young talented guys who need help,” Campbell said, per Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com. “This makes a lot of sense. Where this team is at, it could be a special opportunity.”
It’s a special opportunity that nearly never came to fruition.
Calais Campbell is entering his 18th NFL season, an accomplishment rare for players of his position. Consider, Aaron Donald, who narrowly beat out Campbell in the Defensive Player of the Year vote in 2017, started his NFL career six years after Campbell made his debut and retired over a year ago.
Had Calais Campbell decided to hang up his cleats after year 17, it would’ve shocked no one. It was something he seriously considered heading into the offseason, even as teams like the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles were inquiring about whether he would come back for one more season. It wasn’t until Cardinals owner Michael Bidwell began texting with Campbell, exploring the possibility of a homecoming, that Campbell decided to give it one more go-round.
Assuming Calais Campbell is able to play every single game this year — it would be the 11th time in his career he did so — he’d end the season tied for 25th all-time in most games played. Over half of those games would’ve been played in a Cardinals uniform, and that couldn’t be more fitting. Even though he didn’t get what he calls ‘Larry Fitzgerald treatment’ in 2017, Campbell never wanted to leave Arizona.
“He (Bidwell) sat me down, (and said) ‘I really love you, think you are a phenomenal player, I have to listen to my advisers. We feel you are going to get top dollar offers in FA and I don’t know if we can compete with what we are spending at that position.’” Campbell recalled. “I think I was hoping for the Larry Fitzgerald treatment, you know, no matter what the cost we will keep you.”
Calais Campbell may not have gotten the Larry Fitzgerald treatment, but just as Fitzgerald did four years ago, he’ll get the opportunity to retire as a member of the Arizona Cardinals.
Calais Campbell ‘Very Honored’ To Be Named Team Captain For 2025 Season
In signing Calais Campbell this offseason, the Cardinals knew that they were going to be getting a player with the sort of veteran experience that a team in their position — one looking to return to the postseason for the first time in nearly half a decade — desperately needed. But Campbell’s leadership wasn’t just surface-level or for show.
Just as he was in his last season with the Arizona Cardinals back in 2016, Calais Campbell has once again been selected to be a Cardinals Captain, joining the likes of Kyler Murray, James Conner, Budda Baker, Mack Wilson Sr. and Hjalte Froholdt… none of whom were even in the NFL when Campbell last had the ‘C’ on his Cardinals jersey.
“That was a big deal. I didn’t expect it,” Campbell said after he was named captain. “I haven’t really been here that long but I do try to make an impact and communicate with the guys and really love on them. So for the guys to vote me captain, it’s very surreal. I was honored, very honored. I’m going to do the best I can.”
Campbell may have been caught off guard by the decision, but Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon wasn’t.
“When we signed (Calais), we had the foresight he was going to impact our team in a positive way,” Gannon said. “It was cool to see his peers vote for him.”
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