NFL executive clarifies decision not to penalize Eagles for Dom DiSandro's incident with Dre Greenlaw

The NFL has been issuing quite a few clarifications for its officials’ decision-making recently. After the ejection of 49ers linebacker Dre Greenlaw and Eagles chief security officer Dom DiSandro in Sunday’s game, NFL senior V.P. of officiating Walt Anderson explained to reporters why San Francisco took a penalty for the incident while Philadelphia did not.

“The officials had a flag on the field for a personal foul by San Francisco No. 57, and then there was continuing action,” Anderson said. “And so what Rule 19 allows us to do is provide assistance by looking at the video. And we saw video that showed that there was a staff person that made contact with the player and that the player involved, No. 57, made contact with the staff member which warranted his disqualification.

“The non-player, he was contributing to that escalation. Rule 19 does not afford us the ability to help the officials in throwing a flag that they do not throw for a non-player. That’s only afforded for a player action.”

Tempers flared in the third quarter of the Sunday afternoon matchup between the 49ers and Eagles. Those tempers resulted in a rare double ejection between a player and a team personnel member. However, only the 49ers received a penalty, which was for Dre Greenlaw’s hit before the scuffle.

Greenlaw slammed wide receiver DeVonta Smith into the turf, which led to a larger skirmish and Eagles chief security officer Dom DiSandro putting hands on the former Arkansas standout. The linebacker ended up putting his hand in the face of the Eagles staffer, resulting in the ejection of both player and staffer. DiSandro received a standing ovation as he exited the game with the Eagles trailing their NFC rivals.

Essentially, the league does not have the power to issue a penalty for a non-player. However, Philadelphia could still face discipline for the ejection. Greenlaw will likely receive a fine this week for his ejection.

49ers deliver second loss of the year to Eagles

Despite a slow start in the first quarter, the 49ers offense showed up in the second with 14 points. They tacked on another 14 in the third quarter to go up 28-13. San Francisco extended their lead and moved to 9-3 on the year while the Eagles fell to 10-2.

Losing Greenlaw was a big blow to the heart of the 49ers defense all the same. He led the team with seven tackles on the day and entered the game as the team’s second-leading tackler with 79 through 10 games. He also has five tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks.

The 49ers drafted Dre Greenlaw with a fifth-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. He made an immediate impact as a rookie, tallying 92 tackles, a sack and an interception. He signed a two-year, $16.4 million extension with San Francisco last offseason before posting a career-high 127 tackles in the 2022 regular season.