Calais Campbell

Early life

Campbell played his high school football at South High School in Denver, Colorado. Widely regarded as one of the nation's top defensive end prospects, he was ranked as the tenth-best strongside defensive end by Rivals.com and the seventh-best defensive end by Scout.com. He amassed a state-record total of 57 sacks in his career at South High School.

In addition to football, Campbell also starred on the school's basketball team; averaging 22.7 points (fourth best in Colorado), 16.0 rebounds per game (led the state) and 3.3 blocks per game, he was an All-State basketball selection as a junior. Campbell also competed in track and field at South, qualifying for the state meet in the discus and shot put in 2003. His track and field personal bests: 21 feet (6.4 m) in the long jump, 48 feet (15 m) in the shot put, 135 feet (41 m) in the discus and 44 feet 2 inches (13.46 m) in the triple jump.

Campbell chose Miami over Colorado State, Nebraska, Louisiana State, Michigan, Oklahoma, and San Diego State.

College career

After redshirting his first season in 2004, Campbell became a starter at Miami in the 2005 season. In 11 games, he recorded 24 total tackles, 2.5 sacks, and three passes defensed. In the 2006 season, he had 55 total tackles, 10.5 sacks, four passes defensed, and three forced fumbles. He recorded at least three sacks in a single game on three occasions in the 2006 season. In his final season with the Hurricanes in 2007, he had 50 total tackles, 6.5 sacks, three passes defensed, and one interception, which came against Marshall in the season opener.

Personal life

Campbell was born in Denver, Colorado, to Charles and Nateal Campbell. He was raised with seven siblings. He has two sisters, Kimba Blaylock and Keyonne Campbell, and five brothers: Jamar, Raj, Ciarre, Severin, and Jared. His father, Charles Campbell, died in late 2003. Jared Campbell, a touring stand-up comedian, also played football with Calais at both University of Miami and Arizona Cardinals as a defensive back. His brothers Ciarre and Raj played college football at Colorado State and Butte Junior College, respectively. His brother Severin played at the University of Montana. In December 2007, Campbell graduated from the University of Miami with a degree in sociology. On January 21, 2015, it was announced that Campbell had given $1.6 million to the Hurricanes to establish an endowed scholarship for defensive linemen in perpetuity at the University of Miami. He appeared on the first episode of seventh season of The League, appearing with former teammate Tyrann Mathieu. On June 30, 2026, Campbell's mother, Nateal was reported dead. Police identified the suspect as her son and Calais's brother, Ciarre, who dealt with schizophrenia.

Charitable work

On November 28, 2022, Campbell partnered with Campbell's Chunky to donate 5,000 Campbell's products to the Maryland Food Bank as part of the "Chunky Sacks Hunger" campaign.

2024 traffic stop

On September 8, 2024, hours before the Miami Dolphins were set to begin their season opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Tyreek Hill was pulled over by officers outside of the Dolphins stadium while he was on his way to the game. Video, which was filmed by fans, was instantly released to social media where it quickly made national news. The video showed Hill being detained in handcuffs and forced to the ground by three officers who were on top of him holding him down. It was alleged that the situation escalated after Hill refused to obey the orders from the officers. Campbell, Hill's teammate who was also driving to the game, stopped and got involved in an attempt to de-escalate the situation. Campbell got out of his car with his hands up above his head and approached the scene, informing officers that he was a friend of Hill's. He remained at the scene to “support” Hill after he said officers asked him to leave. Police later placed him in handcuffs for “disobeying a direct order" by being too close. “They were trying to yank him down to the ground. I saw them kick him and pull him down... I feel like one officer was pushing on his head” Campbell said to ESPN. One of the officers was placed on administrative leave pending an investigation. Hill was cited with two traffic citations and was free to leave while Campbell wasn't cited. Both played in that afternoon's game, a 20–17 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.