CONCORD — Inked across the left arm of Antonio Campbell III are angel wings wrapped around the words ‘Pop,’ both framed by the dates of a life cut short.
The placement of the tattoo is purposeful.
While his right hand keeps the football secure, tucked firmly as the Mt. Diablo running back speeds towards glory, his left arm – the one etched with his father’s memory – shields him from defenders. The protection of his father, in death as in life, helps him ward off whoever tries to take him down.
For Campbell, who turns 17 next week, the extra strength is so needed.
“My mother hasn’t grieved yet,” he said. “My little brother hasn’t either. My uncles told me I have to keep my head up and be the man at home. So that’s another reason I keep going.”
On April 19, Campbell’s father, Antonio “Tino” Campbell Jr., a husband and father of three, died in a car accident. Campbell, a former assistant football coach at several East Bay high schools, was driving east down Ygnacio Valley Road in Walnut Creek when his Tesla crashed into a tree at 2:40 a.m. Walnut Creek police have not released the results of an investigation. Campbell was 46.
Mt. Diablo running back Antonio Campbell III shows off a tattoo on his left arm in remembrance of his father. Campbell’s has dedicated this season to his father Antonio Campbell II, who died in a car accident on April 19, 2025. Campbell’s dad wore football jersey No. 53. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
In the weeks after the accident, the grief was so heavy that Campbell, an all-division performer last year, seriously contemplated walking away from the game he’d played since he was 5. Football, a passion he and his father shared, suddenly felt hollow. Without his dad’s voice roaring from the sidelines, emptiness swallowed the fun.
For a short time following Tino’s death, Campbell was beside himself. Grief had its way. Pain consumed his life. The son turned to isolation as he learned to cope with his new reality. Trauma gave him a worthy reason to hang up the cleats.
“My dad was a person I always went to when I was down,” Campbell said. “When he was gone, it was like I lost everything. He was my second half. He was my heart. I was just reconsidering everything, and I didn’t know if I could keep going to follow my dreams to go to college and go to the pros.”
Without Tino’s guidance, Campbell’s love for the game crumbled. Chanette and Mt. Diablo coach Fetuao Mua both came to grips with the probability that Campbell might never touch a football again.
They gave him two weeks off. Space to process. Room to start healing. He only needed a week. His love for the game resurfaced. It was hard to keep his father close and not resurrect football in his heart.
The spirit of his father didn’t allow for quitting. In his final high school football season, the senior will don the Mt. Diablo red and black. The memory of his father will be his motivation.
“He’s going to have his ups and downs, but it’s a bigger purpose for him now,” Mua said. “It’s just his little brother and his mom now in his life, and he feels the responsibility of being the man of his house. There’s no other choice for him. This is it.”
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Mt. Diablo running back Antonio Campbell III sits with his mother, Chanette Campbell, in a golf cart during afternoon football practice at the Concord school on Aug. 25, 2025. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
Chanette Campbell still remembers it as if it were yesterday.
Chanette, Campbell’s mother and Tino’s wife, vividly recalls the joy on her husband’s face when she told him he was going to be a father.
“He was so excited,” Chanette said. “He told me, ‘I hope it’s a boy and I want him to be named after me.’ It was such a proud moment for him to know that he was going to be a father. Once we found out we were having a boy, it was a wrap after that. He didn’t know what to do with himself. He was cheesing almost every day, rubbing on my stomach, singing, putting the football in my lap.”
Growing up, Tino was a man of many talents. He was a versatile musician, playing the drums and singing in his local church choir. In his later years, Tino taught himself how to play the bass guitar.
But nothing trumped his love for football – a passion he would pass on to his children, including Campbell.
Chanette said Campbell, whom she calls Ne-Yo, first fell in love with football when he tagged along with his dad to practice.
Tino would often bring Campbell to high school practices, giving him a glimpse of what he could aspire to be. Tino’s coaching journey took him all over the Bay Area, coaching for Arroyo, Castlemont, Skyline, Sacred Heart Cathedral, and Mt. Diablo. He invested most of his life helping the youth as a security guard and intervention coordinator at Oakland public schools.
“When Ne-Yo was 4, he was literally climbing up the fence where we practiced. He couldn’t play because you had to be 5 to play youth football, but he was going to figure out a way to get onto the field,” Chanette said. “But then the next year comes, and he is 5, but he had to have turned five by a certain date, and he didn’t meet that date. He cried the whole way home, and he was just so heartbroken he couldn’t play.”
But once Campbell was finally able to strap the pads on, he flourished under the guidance of his father.
Campbell instantly became a star at Mt. Diablo, playing defensive end and running back.
He rushed for 455 yards and five touchdowns and racked up 43 tackles and five sacks last season. He earned all-Diablo Athletic League Mountain Division first-team honors and picked up his first Division I offer from Grambling State.
“When you look at him, it’s crazy how explosive he is,” Mua said. “If I were a college coach, I’d probably take him at running back. He’s shed a lot of fat, and he’s added a lot of muscle. He’s just super explosive right now.”
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Mt. Diablo running back Antonio Campbell III runs with the ball during a football practice at the Concord school on Monday, Aug. 25, 2025. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
Campbell knows this season won’t be easy.
After winning its first league title in over 60 years in 2024, the goal for Mt. Diablo is to play for a state championship. Additionally, Campbell is hoping to receive more college offers before the end of his senior year.
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Mua said Campbell has worked harder this offseason than he’s seen in years past, setting the tone for the rest of the team.
“He’s the first one here. He’s usually the last one to leave,” Mua said. “He’s been a blessing, man. Everything we’ve asked him to do, especially in his circumstance, he’s been doing.”
And though the Red Devils will be relying on Campbell more than ever this season, the Division I hopeful knows he won’t be running alone.
He’ll tuck the ball into his right arm and turn upfield. He’ll run like he never ran before, his left arm out in front, like a shield. The ink wings of his angel, paving the way. A symbol of the conviction that keeps Campbell going: Pops died way too soon, but he never left.
“He was my everything. He was my No. 1 fan. He was my trainer, he was a father, and he supported me a lot through everything, things that people could even think of,” Campbell said. “I started playing football because of him. Everything I know now is because of him. I’m just proud of everything he did for me.”
Mt. Diablo running back Antonio Campbell III is photographed before football practice at the Concord school on Aug. 25, 2025. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
