Tennessee offensive lineman John Campbell Jr. has been one of the immediate standouts from the press conference side of the 2023 football season. Campbell, a sixth-year player and Miami transfer, arrived to Tennessee this past offseason to help bolster the Vols’ depth as Tennessee made some key switches.
Campbell’s teammates spoke highly of his play during training camp which eventually led to the 6-foot-5, 320-pounder starting the season at the left tackle position.
In the midst of a solid debut performance for Tennessee on Saturday, Campbell Jr. delivered the Vols’ first truly viral play of the season. With Tennessee just a few yards away from the endzone in the third quarter, the Vols ran a speed option to the left with quarterback Joe Milton III and running back Dylan Sampson. Campbell, meanwhile, broke upfield to take care of a linebacker… and nearly took him into the crowd.
Campbell Jr. unpacked his perspective of the play with the media in Knoxville.
“I was just trying to make a play,” Campbell said. “We’re on the field and I’m just trying to make it just the same way that defender was trying to make it to the league. I’m just trying to go out there, give my all for the team, make plays like I said I was going to do. So I’m just going to keep making plays for the team.”
The newly-debuted Tennessee left tackle also explained the wild reaction to the play on social media, leading him to become an “internet sensation” – as one Tennessee staffer put it.
"My phone is going crazy, like, it's still blowing up right now! I had to turn notifications off."
John Campbell Jr. unpacks the internet reaction to his viral play against Virginia on Saturday. pic.twitter.com/u8EzvzOfYO
— Rocky Top Insider (@rockytopinsider) September 5, 2023
More from RTI: Tennessee Football Moves Into Top 10 In AP Poll After Defeating Virginia
“He Michael Oher’d him,” Tennessee quarterback Joe Milton III said about Campbell’s play after the game. “That’s what everyone was saying in the locker room. Just to have someone like John on our team is great, and you obviously see what he can do and what he brings to the team.”
The Vols’ quarterback wasn’t the only teammate of Campbell’s to share their reaction to the play, though.
Tennessee defensive lineman Omarr Norman-Lott, offensive lineman Ollie Lane, and defensive lineman Tyler Baron all gave their thoughts on Campbell’s play while speaking to the media on Tuesday.
John Campbell Jr.'s teammates react to his viral endzone play against Virginia on Saturday in Nashville pic.twitter.com/d7u9rTgziA
— Rocky Top Insider (@rockytopinsider) September 5, 2023
No. 9 Tennessee and “internet sensation” John Campbell Jr. will host Austin Peay this Saturday at 5:00 p.m. ET in Knoxville’s Neyland Stadium.
