Sunday’s ejection of 49ers linebacker Dre Greenlaw came not at the behest of the officials on the field, but at the direction of the league office.
In a pool report following Sunday’s win by the 49ers over the Seahawks, NFL V.P. of instant replay Mark Butterworth explained that Greenlaw was sent to the showers via a message that was sent from 345 Park Avenue.
“The clubs passed a rule this year that the [Art McNally Gameday Central in New York] can actually eject a player even when there is not a flag down on the field for the action,” Butterworth told Brady Henderson of ESPN. “But in this case, there was a flag down on the field. When they went to the sideline, the player in question actually head-butted a non-helmeted player on the sideline. We have a very specific process we go through. [NFL executive V.P. of football operations] Troy Vincent let us know that the player was ejected, so then I communicated with the field to inform them that number 57 was ejected from the game for a non-football act.”
The next question is whether Greenlaw will be suspended for the infraction. The NFL will review the situation on Monday and make a decision.
