Calais Campbell makes emotional return to Atlanta after mother’s death: ‘She’s always with me’

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ATLANTA — There was something different about Calais Campbell this past week. A new energy, a brimming confidence. Broderick Washington didn’t know how to square it. But he sure could feel it.

“I’m gonna ball my ass off this week,” Washington remembered Campbell saying in recent days. The sensei of the Ravens’ defensive line room has always been confident — “but I don’t know,” Washington said Sunday night, “it kind of just hit different when I heard him say it.”

Not long before kickoff inside the Atlanta Falcons’ Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Washington grasped the source of Campbell’s intensity. It was visceral, personal. In an Instagram video post, Campbell wrote, “Happy birthday Mama!” Nateal Campbell, his mother, would have turned 72 on Sunday, Calais explained.

“She would have been here celebrating loud as can be,” he said into the camera. On June 30, Nateal Campbell was found dead in her Atlanta home. Ciarre Campbell, Calais’ brother, who’s struggled with mental health issues, was charged with her murder.

In his return to Atlanta, Calais wore an olive-green T-shirt his sister had gifted him. On the front was a montage of family photos: Calais and his mother. Calais and his children. Calais and his siblings. He toyed with the idea of embedding a tribute to her in his uniform during the game. He thought better of it.

“She’s in me, so she’s always with me,” he said. “And so I just went out there and just played with her in my heart.”

And so the Ravens played with Campbell in theirs. It was the least they could do on a night when he, at age 40, broke the NFL record for games played by a defensive lineman (283). In a 30-23 comeback win over the Falcons, he got 41 snaps and had two tackles, including a stop of running back Bijan Robinson for a 1-yard loss to slow a fourth-quarter Falcons drive.

“Tonight was about him,” Washington said of Campbell. “I just wanted to go out there and pretty much show that I had his back.”

On Sunday night, the Ravens’ admiration for Campbell was no less pronounced than their admiration for quarterback Tyler Huntley, whose late-game mastery kept the Ravens’ rally alive, or for safety Kyle Hamilton, whose overtime interception secured the win.

Defensive lineman Nnamdi Madubuike called Campbell “my OG,” a nod to Campbell’s first stint in Baltimore, when he helped mold a still-young Madubuike into a Pro Bowl-level performer. Washington, whose formative years in Baltimore also overlapped with Campbell’s initial Ravens tenure, called him “a great leader.”

Left tackle Ronnie Stanley, one of the Ravens’ longest-tenured players, likened Campbell to “a brother.” Their conversations transcend football, he said, touching on life and purpose and shared values.

“We want to support him in any way possible,” Stanley said. “And we know how close he was with his mom and everything that happened this year. We just want to make sure that this day ended on a high note for him.”

It started with breakfast. With family in town for the game, Campbell met with his siblings for a meal Sunday morning. He said he knew his mother “was there with us.”

“This is how she would have spent her birthday,” Campbell said.

He also knew Sunday would be painful. Almost a decade ago, Campbell called Nateal “my rock.” Birthdays would be a challenge, especially this first one without her. But he was heartened by his teammates’ resolve to win the game in his family’s honor. He remembered how much his mother loved football. He remembered how much she loved to see him win.

“She’s always said, ‘We’re going to the Super Bowl,’” Campbell said. “I mean, every year, every game, it’s like, ‘You’re going to the Super Bowl.’ She just believed in me and believed in us. And so to get a W, it felt really good.”

Before kickoff, Campbell thought to himself, “Man, what a day to play football.” He wanted to win, but more than anything, he wanted to feel like a kid again, the young Calais who grew up playing in the backyard of his family’s Colorado home with his brothers and sisters while his parents watched.

For one night, he found comfort in his football family. After getting a game ball from coach Jesse Minter in the locker room, Campbell called it an “honor” to share the field with his teammates. He told them he loved them: “You’re my brothers, man.”

As the Ravens’ locker room emptied Sunday night, Campbell sat on a stool in his olive-green T-shirt, his family again covering his chest. His mother would have loved a night like this, he said.

“She would have been proud watching in the stands. But I know she’s still out there with me, watching.”