Brandon Campbell didn’t rush into the decision.

He weighed the pros and the cons, contemplated the memories he be foregoing if he decided to sit out his senior season at Katy High School and the potential backlash that could come given his status as one of the state’s best players.

Then he sent the tweet.

“During this Pandemic, there have been a lot of uncertainties. In the midst of it, I have decided to forego playing football my Senior Year. It was a difficult decision, but my health and my family’s health is most important.

“I will be taking this time to prepare myself mentally and physically to enroll early at USC as a Collegiate Student Athlete. I appreciate everyone’s support.”

The responses, as you could imagine, were mixed.

Most were of the positive variety.

Others, well…

“It was mixed emotions,” Campbell said. “My closer friends on the team supported me and knew where I was coming from due to my situations. Some people were upset about it.

“At the end of the day, when you make a big decision like this that is going to impact your life, not everyone is going to be happy with your decision. But I knew it was the right decision for me; it doesn’t matter what others think. At the end of the day, it’s my decision and my life. I can do what I want with it and live with the consequences.”

In the end, Campbell felt like it was the right decision for himself, his family, and his long-term future on the gridiron. He’s at peace with it.

“I felt like it was just a long-term decision I needed to make for myself,” he told TexasFootball.com. “First and foremost, I wanted to keep my family safe; my mom, my dad, my sister. With all this stuff going on with COVID-19, I thought it would be a good idea to take this year to get myself fully healthy and prepare my body, prepare myself mentally to enroll at USC.”

Campbell spoke to USC prior to making the final decision, and said the Trojans backed his plan.

“They understood,” he said. “They were supportive of my decision and are just excited to get my up there in January. I’m excited to get up there.”

Another reason he’s decided to sit out is to preserve some of the tread on his tires as a featured back.

“My health is fine, I just wanted to give my body a rest knowing that running back is a really tough position and the life expectancy for a running back is already short,” he said. “I felt like taking a year off with no carries and hits is going to benefit me long-term. People don’t see that right now, but in the long run people will see why I made the decision I made.”

Campbell is currently working out by himself and plans on taking online courses this semester before enrolling at USC in January.

The four-star ultimately chose the Trojans over offers from at least 40 other schools, including Alabama, Auburn, Baylor, Florida, Florida State, Houston, LSU, Miami, Michigan State, Nebraska, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Penn State, SMU, TCU, Texas, Texas Tech, UCLA, UTSA, Virginia Tech, Washington and Washington State.

“I’m really excited,” Campbell said. “California, it just hold so many opportunities as a football player. It has a big media market so it will help build my brand. I feel like they have all the tools necessary to be a good football player; you get a really good education too. I’m excited to get up there and bring a national championship back to USC.”