A former NFL cornerback and Beaver County youth football coach is facing criminal charges after prosecutors say he was caught on video grabbing his 6-year-old son and slamming him against a portable toilet during a youth football game. Tommie Campbell, an Aliquippa native who played four seasons in the NFL, was charged with simple assault and harassment following the incident, according to authorities.
Beaver County District Attorney Nate Bible said Campbell was seen on video yelling at his young son on the sideline, according to CBS News. Per Bible, Campbell slapped away the child's raised hands, then dragged him off the field. The outlet reports that prosecutors say Campbell grabbed the boy near a portable toilet, lifted him off the ground, and dropped him, then held him at eye level against the toilet while yelling at him. The child was not reported to have been injured in the incident.
DA Says Grabbing and Slamming Child Crossed Into Criminal Conduct
Bible said the conduct became criminal at the moment Campbell grabbed the child and slammed him against the portable toilet, per the same report. Simple assault under Pennsylvania law is classified as a misdemeanor offense, while harassment is graded as a summary offense — the least severe tier of criminal charges in the state. Under Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes Title 18 Section 2701, simple assault is typically a second-degree misdemeanor carrying up to two years in prison and a $5,000 fine; when an adult commits the offense against a child under 12, it is a first-degree misdemeanor punishable by up to two years in jail, according to the Zuckerman Law Firm. Harassment involving physical contact such as striking, shoving, or kicking is a summary offense under Section 2709(a)(1), punishable by up to 90 days in jail and a $300 fine, according to Brennan Law Offices.
Bible framed the case around Campbell's dual role that day, noting he was both a father and a coach on the sideline, the CBS report states. The district attorney also said children look up to coaches and former athletes, underscoring why prosecutors treated the incident with added weight given Campbell's public profile in the Central Valley youth football community.
Youth League Removes Campbell From Coaching Role
The Central Valley Youth Football League held an emergency board meeting after the incident and voted to remove Campbell from his coaching position, per the CBS report. Campbell has not responded to a request for comment, the outlet noted, and he is scheduled for a preliminary hearing next month.
Campbell's football career stretches from Western Pennsylvania sandlots to the NFL and beyond. He played college football at Pitt, Edinboro, and California University of Pennsylvania before the Tennessee Titans drafted him in 2011. According to Pro-Football-Reference, Campbell appeared in 44 NFL regular-season games between 2011 and 2014, split between Tennessee and Jacksonville, recording 37 tackles, two forced fumbles, and two touchdowns.
A Career Built on Overcoming Setbacks
Before reviving his college career at Cal U in 2010, Campbell had been sidelined by academic issues at Pitt and Edinboro and worked as an airport janitor at Pittsburgh International Airport from 2008 to 2009, according to Wikipedia. That comeback story became part of his identity as an Aliquippa native — a town with a storied football pipeline. As a high schooler, Campbell was a teammate of future Pro Football Hall of Fame cornerback Darrelle Revis at Aliquippa High School.
After his NFL run ended, Campbell built a decorated career in the Canadian Football League, earning CFL All-Star honors with the Calgary Stampeders in 2016 and CFL East All-Star honors with the Montreal Alouettes in 2019, compiling more than 200 tackles and nine interceptions across nearly 70 games, according to California University of Pennsylvania Athletics. His 2010 senior season secondary at Cal U notably featured three future NFL defensive backs, including Campbell alongside safeties Erik Harris and Rontez Miles, the same source notes.
This is not Campbell's first brush with the local legal system. He was arrested in Aliquippa in January 2017 on three charges, but the charges were subsequently dropped and his record was cleared before his return to the Calgary Stampeders, according to CFL.ca. That earlier case was resolved without conviction, making the pending simple assault and harassment charges his primary matter now before the Beaver County courts.
