Miami Dolphins defensive lineman Calais Campbell told reporters Sunday that he was also placed in handcuffs along with wide receiver Tyreek Hill in an incident a couple hours prior to the team’s 20-17 win.
“I think it was a bit extreme and definitely unnecessary,” Campbell told reporters in a postgame press conference. “Definitely was a terrible way to start a ballgame, adversity we faced there. I was driving to the game, the lane I’m in is blocked.
“I see Tyreek in handcuffs, I’d seen, I feel like excessive force, so I get out of the car to kind of just try to deescalate the situation and I think the officer just – I don’t know why he felt the need to put me in handcuffs, but I mean it is what it is.”
Campbell said he was told by officers that he wasn’t being arrested, but he was being cited for his involvement.
“Disobeying a direct order,” Campbell said of the officers’ explanation. “I guess I wasn’t – he said I was too close to the scene and then I think he said something about me not moving my car in time. I don’t know. He told me later I could stand 25 feet away, that’s fine. I was definitely further than 25 feet away when that happened.”
Hill was seen face down in handcuffs by fans entering the parking lots at Hard Rock Stadium. On Sunday afternoon, the Miami-Dade Police Department announced that an officer involved in the arrest was placed on administrative leave.
“I think it was very much the way it should go,” Campbell said when asked about the officer being placed on leave.
Campbell, who joined the Dolphins earlier this year on a one-year deal, received the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award in 2019, recognizing his philanthropic work off the field. In his Miami debut, he finished with a sack and two tackles for loss.
