Read Calais Campbell’s touching goodbye to Jacksonville and Duval

Defensive end Calais Campbell was just traded to the Baltimore Ravens, but took the time to send a touching goodbye to Jacksonville and Duval on Twitter.

Calais Campbell remains the Mayor of Sacksonville, but only in spirit.

For the last three years, Campbell has been the face of Jacksonville Jaguars football. The former Arizona Cardinals Pro Bowler took his game to greater heights along the Banks of the St. John’s River. Campbell was the heartbeat of the iconic 2017 Jaguars defense, a unit so ferocious it almost carried Blake Bortles to a Super Bowl. Sadly, Campbell’s playing time in Duval is over.

Campbell was traded to the Baltimore Ravens for a fifth-round pick on Sunday afternoon. The 2019 Walter Payton Man of the Year went to three Pro Bowls and earned his only All-Pro selection to date during his three years in Jacksonville. At 33-years-old, Campbell is knocking on the door of Canton enshrinement, but first he had to pay his respects to all things Duval first.

Here is Campbell’s touching message he sent out on Twitter after being dealt to Baltimore.

You can tell from Campbell’s message that his three years in Jacksonville changed him. During his nine years in Arizona, he was a good, but not a great player. He made two Pro Bowls late in his Cardinals career, but his career forever changed when he joined the Jaguars in 2017 NFL free agency. Campbell leaves Jacksonville with 31.5 sacks in only 48 games. He was unbelievable.

While Campbell would have probably loved to have finished his career with the Jaguars, Jacksonville is undoubtedly going into a full-scale rebuild. The Jaguars have already traded defensive backs Jalen Ramsey and A.J. Bouye within the last calendar year. While they franchise tagged defensive end Yannick Ngakoue, he’s expected to be dealt to another team here soon.

By landing on a Super Bowl contender in Baltimore, Campbell looks to bring a veteran presence to the front-seven of an already tremendous defense. He has a terrific shot of finally getting back to the Super Bowl. Despite playing in three conference championships, the only time he made it to the Super Bowl was as a rookie in 2008, only to lose a heartbreaker to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Though talented players are leaving the Jaguars organization left and right, the mass exodus is not without much love for the people of Duval County. North Florida loved those players on that iconic 2017 AFC South Championship team. While they never reached a Super Bowl, it’s sad this is the end of what was a really special, but short-lived era of awesome Jaguars football.

All hail the Mayor of Sacksonville!