Alex Smith to Calais Campbell: 'Hate is a strong word'

Arizona DE Calais Campbell is frustrated.

He felt like he should have had four sacks in the Cardinals' 21-14 loss to Minnesota last week, instead, he settled for none.

“I got to make up for that this week especially going up against the 49ers, who I hate with a passion,” Campbell told SiriusXM's Tim Ryan and Pat Kirwan. “I can't wait to go out there and stick it to them and Alex Smith. I've got him down a few times, I know he's thinking about me a little bit.”

Smith found Campbell's comments more amusing than anything when asked about them Thursday.

“Hate is strong word. It's a strong word,” Smith said, holding back a smile. “I mean, they're a division opponent, obviously there's a lot of history there, we play them twice a year. Great rivalry, hate is a word I wouldn't use.”

As could have been expected, Campbell's comments made the rounds at the 49ers facility. No one -- at least not publicly -- seemed to care much about what was said.

OLB Aldon Smith played the sympathy card.

“I'm sorry he feels that way, first of all,” he said. “We're going to go out there and compete, whoever we play. We play the Cardinals on Monday so we're preparing to play them and compete hard.”

Not exactly fighting words coming from a player known for letting more than his play do the talking on game days.


(cbssports.com)