Gene Frenette: Calais Campbell returns to TIAA Bank Field, where his impact isn't forgotten

When the Jaguars decided in March, 2020 to trade away one of their most valuable assets on and off the field in Calais Campbell, they took a calculated risk beyond losing a pass-rusher who had delivered the most sacks (31.5) during any three-year stretch in franchise history.

Sending a then 33-year-old Campbell to the Baltimore Ravens for a fifth-round draft pick sent a clear message that the Jaguars were more than in full rebuild mode.

It also sent shockwaves through the locker room because of the team’s willingness to sacrifice a leadership component — just six weeks after Campbell won the NFL Man of the Year award — who was an immeasurable loss to his teammates.

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Perhaps more than any player who ever wore teal and black, Campbell embraced the role of big brother to younger players when he arrived as a free agent in 2017.

He immediately set a single-season record of 14.5 sacks as the Jaguars reached the AFC Championship game, falling 24-20 to the New England Patriots. The impact of his example is one that resonated with teammates he took under his wing, especially Josh Allen, who had a career-high 10.5 sacks in his rookie season with the 6-foot-8, 300-pound Campbell serving as a tag-team partner and pass-rushing force.

Allen has tried to pass on the knowledge he acquired from Campbell to rookie No. 1 pick Travon Walker, but it still chafes him that the Jaguars parted ways with his teacher.

“Yeah, I was pissed,” Allen said of the Campbell trade. “Take away my mentor? I didn’t understand how the football world worked outside of what you do [on the field]. When he left, I was like, ‘What the heck? What am I supposed to do right now?’ I had to figure it out pretty quick.

“When you come into the league and you have a guy like that in your corner, you feel like you can do absolutely anything. He was a great mentor. I got a lot of lessons from him. Guys in the locker room might not have liked what he said or how he went about it, but they respected him.”

The respect Campbell commands around the NFL has only heightened since his Jacksonville departure. The oldest defensive lineman in the league, who makes his first return to TIAA Bank Field Sunday when the Jaguars host Baltimore, shows little sign of slowing down with 3.5 sacks in his last four games.

“It’s going to be exciting, I got a lot of love in Jacksonville,” Campbell told the Times-Union in a phone interview. “I see on social media that Jags fans give me a lot of love to this day. I’m curious the response I’ll get in the stadium. I hope it’ll be a positive one.

“I had a lot of success there and that gives me confidence I can have some more. This is definitely one of the few games I circled on the calendar at the beginning of the year.”

Investing in his body

Campbell reached a significant milestone last month when he became only the seventh active NFL player to make his 200th career start (former Jaguars’ tight end Marcedes Lewis of the Green Bay Packers among them), a plateau seldom achieved by someone playing along the defensive line.

Of the 84 players in NFL history with more than his current 203 starts, only 14 are D-linemen and five of them retired at a younger age than Campbell. If he starts the Ravens’ last seven games to get to 210, only 66 players will have reached that mark.

Besides good genes, the secret to Campbell’s durability — he’s missed only 12 career games in 15 seasons — is a willingness to invest in caring for his body. He routinely spends $200,000-$300,000 each offseason on bringing in trusted therapists and massagists to Baltimore from his two previous NFL stops (Jacksonville and the Arizona Cardinals) to tend to various body parts.

“I get my ankles worked on the most because I had surgery there a while back, so I keep my ankles lubricated,” said Campbell. “If I don’t do ankles and soft-tissue work, my body will start locking up on me. So I got to do what’s required to keep playing.”

Campbell tries to encourage other players to do the same, but not everybody is willing to spend six figures to fine-tune their body.

“Young guys talk to me about not being comfortable spending that much money,” said Campbell. “But if that investment allows you to make three or four more plays a year, that might make an extra $4 million or $5 million at contract time.

“My clear message is there’s no investment too big if the people help you feel better because the amount of return could be monumental. Spend the money on your body, so when the business side comes up, they’re going to look at your results on the field. Teams got to give the money to somebody. Why not you?”

With one year left on his two-year, $12.5 million contract with the Ravens, he has made no decision on whether to retire or give it one more year. Several factors will come into play, most notably how he feels about getting back to the NFL grind and reducing time with his wife, Rocio, and 2-year-old son, Dakari.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do,” Campbell said. “I do feel good and feel like I’m in a really good [football] rhythm. I feel like I have a lot of good football to offer. After the season ends, we’ll see how it goes.

“I still got something left in the tank. I don’t see myself playing at 40. That’s unrealistic to think about. But I love the game enough, and if my family dynamic is good, who knows.”

'Mayor of Sacksonville' legacy

Besides his deep baritone voice and massive body frame, Campbell’s identity with the Jaguars was tied most to his ability to ignite a pass rush.

He did that instantly, collecting four sacks in his first game as a Jaguar in a 29-7 demolition of the Houston Texans in 2017. It set the tone for the greatest defense in team history to impose its will on opponents, setting franchise records for takeaways (33), touchdown returns (8) and second-most sacks (55).

Campbell was given the catchy nickname of “Mayor of Sacksonville,” a title he still remembers fondly with a sense of pride. Dawuane Smoot, the only Jaguar on defense who was around for Campbell’s entire 3-year run, also believes the team erred in trading him.

“We should have kept a lot of guys at that time we were letting go, in my opinion, but Calais more than anybody,” said Smoot. “His leadership in the locker room was unspoken. We miss him.

“He’s definitely going to be an impact player for as long as he chooses to play. More than anything, he taught me about life skills and how to be a man.”

Though players don’t control the business side of the NFL, Campbell admits it shook him up a bit to leave Jacksonville. Former GM Dave Caldwell fielded five trade offers, but Campbell did appreciate being sent to an organization with a reputation for being a playoff contender.

“Honestly, the initial feeling was shock and surprise,” said Campbell. “I’d done really well in Jacksonville. I didn’t expect to be moved. I knew we were going in the wrong direction, but I wanted to be part of the fight to get it back together.”

Closing in on century mark

This year, Campbell is part of a defense that is No. 3 against the run (86.8 yards per game), 10th in points allowed (19.9 ppg) and 15th in total yards (336.2 yards). He will be across from a Jaguars’ offensive line starting three of his ex-teammates — guard Tyler Shatley, tackles Cam Robinson and Jawann Taylor — and another guard in Brandon Scherff that Campbell faced three times when he suited up for the Washington Commanders.

Being the NFL’s oldest D-lineman for the past two years hasn’t diminished Campbell as much as some might think. He still plays nearly 66 percent of the Ravens’ snaps (381 of 581), fluctuating between nose tackle, three-technique tackle and a big end in their 3-4 scheme.

Though the six-time Pro Bowler dropped to a career-low 1.5 sacks in 2021, he’s back up to 4.5 sacks this season, getting most of them lining up at three-technique.

He’s also closing in on another career benchmark, moving within two sacks of 100, an accomplishment achieved by only 62 players in NFL history.

“That matters a lot to me,” said Campbell. “That was one of the dreams I had when I was a young buck. I feel if I stay healthy, I should be able to get that by the end of the year. I don’t want to stop at 100. I’d like to get a few more.”

It won’t be easy because the Ravens’ defense, under new coordinator and former Baltimore assistant Mike Macdonald, interior linemen are asked to clog traffic and stop the run more than put quarterbacks on the ground.

But for someone with Campbell’s brute strength, the Jaguars must see to it that he doesn’t get the big push that could be troublesome when Trevor Lawrence drops back to pass.

“Not a lot of people get 100 sacks,” Allen said. “I think it’s going to be awesome for him. Hopefully, he gets it and not against us.”

If this is Campbell’s final season, it’s fitting the first-place Ravens (7-3) may give him one more shot at a Super Bowl ring, and that among his last road games is a place where he made so many lasting memories.

"When I got drafted, he was the first [Jaguar] I talked to," said Allen. "That connection for me was a little different since day one. He's been in the league the longest and he does it the right way. When you come into the league, you look to gravitate to those type of guys. There's not a lot of them."

Calais Campbell was only in Jacksonville for three seasons and has been gone almost that long, but he won’t soon be forgotten. On and off the field, the gentle giant left too big a mark.

Gfrenette@jacksonville.com: (904) 359-4540 

Gene Frenette Sports columnist at Florida Times-Union, follow him on Twitter @genefrenette

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Calais Campbell's NFL career winding down, but ex-Jaguar still impactful