The Baltimore Ravens defense looks like it will have one of the key players back for another season. Defensive lineman Calais Campbell said he’s coming back in 2023 for his 16th season. Campbell’s return will be his fourth season with the Ravens.
“I’m coming back, baby,” Campbell said on “NFL Gameday” before Super Bowl LVII in Arizona.
There were questions as to whether Campbell would retire after the Ravens’ heartbreaking 24-17 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in the divisional round of the playoffs. Campbell wasn’t committed to any decision and was asked if he would be back after the game. The veteran instead wanted to take some time to figure it out by giving himself a few weeks to go through the process.
It has been over a month since the Bengals game and Campbell has made his decision. At 36 years old, Campbell still has some good football left in his tank.
“I feel like I was still able to affect the ball games, and that’s important,” Campbell said of last season. “I don’t want to be a guy out here that’s not affecting the ball games, just being a guy. So, that matters to me to decide if I’m going to continue playing or not because I want to make sure that I’m going to be confident that I can go out there and be a difference maker and not just being a guy. I think that wouldn’t do justice to my career and my legacy if I go out there and become less than what I’ve been.”
Campbell finished last season with 5.5 sacks and 14 quarterback hits in 14 games.
Another boost for Campbell’s return means that he’ll likely achieve a career milestone by recording his 100th sack. Campbell sits at 99 career sacks right now.
“I really want to play in Super Bowl 58,” Campbell added on Twitter.
As a rookie, Campbell was only a second-year player when he was a member of the Arizona Cardinals team that lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLIII in 2008. Campbell hasn’t made it back to the Super Bowl since. A return to the Super Bowl this season is possible, but a lot of that depends on quarterback Lamar Jackson being under center for the Ravens. Campbell is well aware of that and hopes Jackson will also be back. `
Added Campbell, “When we’re on the football field and we know Lamar Jackson is back there at quarterback, we believe we can beat anybody. We can’t just put anybody back there and expect to be a great football team.” BT