-
Nick Wagner, ESPN staff writer
PHILADELPHIA – After a sideline altercation about 5 1/2 minutes into the third quarter, the San Francisco 49ers lost linebacker Dre Greenlaw to ejection. Dom DeSandro, the head of security for the Philadelphia Eagles, was also fired.
That was the kind of trade-off that the Eagles clearly outdid — but it also left the 49ers and coach Kyle Shanahan seething on the sideline.
“That’s why I did my best not to lose my mind and not to embarrass myself too badly,” Shanahan said after his team’s 42-19 victory.
With 9:27 remaining in the third quarter, Greenlaw tackled Eagles receiver DeVonta Smith near the Philadelphia sideline after a 13-yard completion. Greenlaw lifted Smith off his feet and slammed him to the ground, drawing a penalty flag for unnecessary roughness.
As Greenlaw and Smith stood up, Eagles staff and players rushed over and began yelling back and forth with Greenlaw and some of his teammates.
Desandro advanced toward Greenlaw, who extended his arm while shouting at Desandro. Greenlaw’s hand appeared to have touched DeSandro’s face when he pointed at him, resulting in the disqualification.
“I couldn’t see everything from where I was,” Shanahan said. “But when I started hearing people explain that to me and stuff like that… I can’t believe that someone who’s not involved in a football game could make fun of our players like that and put his hands in our guy’s face and from what I’ve been told, Dre brought that back to him and [I] He was told he hit him in the face a little bit until he was kicked out. But it was a very disappointing match.”
Before sending Greenlaw off, officials had a lengthy discussion with Eagles coach Nick Sirianni, who was making his case for the ejection, while linebacker Fred Warner walked Greenlaw to the San Francisco sideline. As Warner and Greenlaw walked, Warner said he saw the Eagles line wave goodbye to him while Greenlaw explained his side of what happened.
“It was a huge loss in that moment to lose him,” Warner said. “That was another moment where we had to make the adjustment and stand up.”
Once the decision was made, Shanahan was visibly angry, running onto the field and yelling at the officials. Shortly after, Greenlaw sprinted to the locker room to boos from Eagles fans. DiSandro was also removed from the game but received a standing ovation from Philadelphia fans on his way out.
According to a report compiled with Walt Anderson, the NFL’s senior vice president of arbitration, there was a review from New York of what happened during what is known as “continuing action.” That review showed that DiSandro was “contributing to the escalation” of the argument. While the rules do not allow a retroactive flag to be thrown at DiSandro for participating, they do allow for his ejection. Greenlaw was ejected for contact with a non-player.
“That should never be in doubt, one of their guys interacting with the player on the sideline,” Warner said. “So, it is what it is.”
DiSandro has been with the Eagles since 1999 and also serves as a senior advisor to general manager Howie Roseman. After the game, he was in the tunnel to greet Eagles players as they walked to the locker room after the loss.
“I saw Dom get sent off, and that pissed me off to be honest,” Jordan Mailata said against the Eagles. “I was like, ‘Why is he getting fired?’ “There was a lot of commotion going on… We were trying to ask the referees and the referees wouldn’t tell us anything. And then I heard the side umpire, “Why didn’t he come out?” “I saw him pointing at Dom and I saw Dom just leave.”
Greenlaw was leading San Francisco in tackles with seven at the time of his ejection. The Eagles scored on a 1-yard run from quarterback Jalen Hurts five plays later to cut the Niners’ lead to 21-13.
Veteran Orrin Burks stepped in for Greenlaw and finished with four tackles. After Hurts’ touchdown, the Niners beat Philadelphia 21-6 to close out the game.
“I liked the way we rallied afterward,” Shanahan said.
Sirianni told Shanahan at midfield after the game that he also didn’t like the way the play went. Shanahan said Sirianni handled the matter “completely.”
Greenlaw has a history of dishing out unnecessary rough penalties, as he has had two other shutouts this season and has five strikeouts in his regular season career.
In January’s NFC Championship game against the Eagles, Greenlaw drew an unnecessary roughness penalty for hitting running back Kenneth Gainwell and a ticket for grabbing Boston Scott’s face mask.
However, the Niners view Greenlaw as a defensive setter and don’t want him to change his aggressive game, just tone it down.
“Dre has really been the enforcer for this defense since we got here in 1919,” Nick Bosa said. “That’s what makes him who he is, so we won’t blame him for that. But in this situation, he knows he can’t do it. And it was a perfect lesson to learn in that moment.” [for] Down the road. “I don’t think he will make that mistake again.”
