Dre Greenlaw's afternoon in Seattle ended early and ugly. The San Francisco 49ers linebacker was ejected in the second quarter of Sunday's 32-29 win over the Seahawks after headbutting Seattle linebacker Ernest Jones IV, who wasn't even wearing his helmet at the time.
The skirmish traces back to a personal-foul penalty against Greenlaw, who hit Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold after Darnold had already stepped out of bounds following a five-yard scramble, according to The Athletic. That hit touched off a shoving match that spilled onto Seattle's sideline, where Greenlaw exchanged words with Jones before headbutting him in the face. Jones had removed his helmet, as confirmed by Niners Wire, leaving him unprotected when Greenlaw made contact.
League Office, Not the Referees, Made the Call
Oddly, officials on the field never threw a flag for the headbutt itself — Greenlaw was penalized only for the late hit on Darnold, per MyNorthwest. Instead, it was the NFL's league office that directed the ejection, not the on-field crew, according to NBC Sports. NFL Vice President of Instant Replay Mark Butterworth explained the reasoning in comments relayed by the same outlet, noting that “the player in question actually head-butted a non-helmeted player on the sideline.”
The mechanism behind that intervention is relatively new. Niners Wire's report on the officials' pool report notes that clubs passed a rule this year allowing Art McNally GameDay Central to eject a player for an act even when no flag was thrown on the field for it — exactly the scenario that played out in Seattle.
A Repeat Offender on the League's Radar
Greenlaw, 29, made three tackles before his ejection, per the Bay Area News Group. This marks the third ejection of his career. He was previously tossed from a 2023 game in Philadelphia for a sideline incident involving Eagles security officer Dom DiSandro, and from a 2022 game against the Los Angeles Chargers for a hit on quarterback Justin Herbert, according to the same report.
The NFL said it would review Sunday's incident on Monday for potential discipline, and NBC Sports reported the review could result in a suspension that would sideline Greenlaw for Week 6. He's no stranger to league punishment — he served a one-game suspension last year stemming from his post-game interactions with referee Brad Allen after a Giants-Broncos game, per the outlet's reporting.
A Heated Week Already Behind Him
Greenlaw entered Sunday's game having already drawn a fine for taunting during San Francisco's 24-14 win over Denver the previous week, as NBC Sports reported. In that Denver game, Greenlaw recorded 12 tackles — his most since December 25, 2023 — and he reportedly yelled at Broncos head coach Sean Payton repeatedly afterward, telling him, “I told him to get the f— off the field,” according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Greenlaw told the Chronicle that Payton had disrespected him during his lone season playing for Denver.
San Francisco is 48-20 in games Greenlaw has played across his 77-game career, per the Chronicle's reporting, underscoring how central he's been to the 49ers' defense despite a rap sheet that includes eight career unnecessary-roughness penalties and four personal-foul facemask penalties. The 49ers still walked away from Seattle with the win Sunday, but the NFL's pending review now hangs over what has otherwise been a strong season for their emotional defensive leader.
