Calais Cambpell becomes third 40-year-old in NFL history to record a sack with a takedown of Deshaun Watson

Calais Campbell was asked in the offseason what brought him back to football for his 40-year-old season.

In short, he said that he still loves the game and he’s still good at it. On Sunday, Deshaun Watson found out that Campbell is still good at football.

With Watson’s Browns in third-and-5 in the first quarter, Campbell shed his blocker and sacked Watson for an 8-yard loss, forcing the Browns to back to Campbell’s Baltimore Ravens.

With that, per the Fox broadcast, Campbell became the third 40-year-old in NFL history to record a sack. Hall of Famer and Buffalo Bills great Bruce Smith did it in 2003 with Washington, and Clay Matthews Jr. did in 1996 as a member of the Atlanta Falcons in 1996.

For Campbell, a six-time Pro Bowler and three-time All-Pro, Sunday’s was the 118th of his career and his first in his first season back with the Ravens after a three-season stint with Baltimore from 2020-22.

Campbell said this in June about his decision to rejoin the Ravens and play another season:

"Everybody's just like, why you keep doing this?" Campbell said. "I think the only answer I can really say is I love the game. I love it. I'm still fairly good at it. And they still want me to play. So why not?"

Why not, indeed.