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MMQB: Calais Campbell on longevity

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Atlanta defensive lineman Calais Campbell got his 100th career sack in season 16 as an NFL player two weeks ago, at age 37. What Campbell, who played his 234th career game at Tampa Bay on Sunday (and got sack No. 101), has learned about longevity:

“I remember studying Tom Brady and the greats in this league. I was like, ‘Maybe I should try what they’re doing too. I ended up getting with a nutritionist and a chef, learning how to take care of my body. I know Tom’s one of the best examples because he’s written books and talked about it a lot. Same thing with basketball and LeBron James. I spend $200,000, $300,000 a year on my body with specialists coming in to work on me. The injury rate in football is 100 percent, so I’m gonna get nicked up and beat up. There’s definitely been a lot of games where I wasn’t sure if I was going to play, last week included. Those people that I’ve worked with for so long know my body, understand how hard they can push me and get me back ready to play. Why not give your body the best opportunity you can? I don’t know when the wheels are going to fall off, but I’m fighting Father Time as hard as I can, round by round. I’m trying to get another round in.

“They say the best ability is availability. So having the right team, the right people who understand my body, making the necessary sacrifices with time and resources to be able to put my body in the best position to be successful … It definitely is dedication. A lot of times my son wants to come play and I’m like, ‘I’m working.’ He says, ‘You’re always working!’ He’s only three. But it’s tough—the sacrifices we make because we love the game so much.”
 
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Complete professional. This is the guy I want around the program when he retires because he saw the big picture before it caught up to him.
 
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He will but I think it’ll be a minute after he retires. Not first ballot. Probably not in the first 5 years of eligibility. But he’s the goods and has been consistently good his whole career.
 
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Great player that almost any franchise would want. Emphasis on ALMOST. There's only 1 year in his career, where I'd put him as the best or most complete player at his position. To me, if there are clearly better players than you, especially during your career, you're not a Hall of Famer.

He's not argued as one of the best ever to do it at any defensive position.
Linebacker? Ray Lewis, Derrick Brooks, **** Butkus, Lawrence Taylor, The Mad Stork
Safety? Ed Reed, Sean Taylor(career too short still), Troy Polamalu, Ronnie Lott
Defensive End? Reggie White, Jason Taylor, JJ Watt, Julius Peppers
Defensive Tackle? Joe Greene, Warren Sapp, Vince Wilfork, Aaron Donald

Without a doubt, Calais Campbell ain't in the conversation as arguably the greatest ever to do it for anyone. If I asked you to mock draft a defensive line right now with any player in NFL history 3 times, without repeating picks, he'd easily go undrafted for anyone taking it seriously.
 
DMoney said:
He should be. Not only does he have 100 sacks, but he has been (and still is) a dominant run defender. That gets undervalued.
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I've hung out with the whole Campbell family a few times. When I asked Calais what he thought about guys like JJ Watt, Calais told me is that getting tons of sacks can be overrated. Not that they aren't important, but if you're getting insanely high sack numbers there's also a decent chance you're breaking contain and letting someone run right by you. He's never been the gamebreaking pass rusher but he uses his length, leverage and smarts to be in the right position to make plays or set up his teammates to make plays. We all overvalue the flashy stuff but I think Calais has quietly become the highest paid UM player of all time in terms of football earnings. (Over a 100 million)

Sometimes it's an important message to the younger guys who are trying too hard to make the individual play. Just do your job consistently and you'll be good.
 
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