San Francisco 49ers linebacker Dre Greenlaw has shown he is unafraid to get in the faces of opponents, and even of opposing coaches. But on Sunday, he took things a bit too far.
During the hard-fought battle between the archrival 49ers and the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field, Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold scrambled toward Seattle’s sideline, gained 5 yards, and stepped out of bounds as Greenlaw hit him.
The refs quickly threw a flag on Greenlaw for unnecessary roughness. But that wasn’t enough for Darnold’s teammates, who immediately confronted the 49er linebacker for hitting their QB.
One of them was Seahawks linebacker Ernest Jones IV, who didn’t have his helmet on. Greenlaw, still wearing his helmet, then leaned over and head-butted Jones, who was helmetless.
The officials ejected Greenlaw after a quick conference.
“That’s how it is,” 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said after the game. “You’re going to get baited big time, especially when you’re on their bench. They’re going to get close, and they told me that he head-butted a guy without a helmet. So, if that’s exactly what happened, then we’ve got to be a lot smarter than that. Can’t do that.”
Fellow 49ers linebacker Fred Warner tried to intervene but couldn’t reach his teammate in time.
“I tried to get there as fast as I could,” Warner said. “I was too far away. He’s helpless in that situation. He’s all by himself on their sideline. Of course, they’re trying to gang up on him, and good on them for baiting him into doing something. But we know we got to be smart in all those situations. … It’s just an unfortunate situation.”
The 9ers prevailed without Greenlaw, defeating Seattle 32-29. However, after Greenlaw was fined $11,491 for unsportsmanlike conduct for repeatedly harassing Broncos head coach Sean Payton, Kyle Shanahan may need to pull his star backer aside and explain that a key part of their success depends on him staying on the field.