Photo by All-Pro Reels from District of Columbia, USA (CC BY-SA 2.0), via Wikimedia Commons

League office directed the ejection of Dre Greenlaw

The NFL’s league office, not on-field officials, was responsible for the ejection of San Francisco 49ers linebacker Dre Greenlaw during Sunday’s game against the Seattle Seahawks. According to NFL Vice President of instant replay Mark Butterworth, league officials in New York directed the ejection after Greenlaw head-butted an unhelmeted player on the sideline following a flagged play.

The decision stemmed from a new rule allowing the league to eject players for non-football acts even when no penalty was initially called on the field. Greenlaw’s ejection came after a review process involving NFL executive Troy Vincent, who confirmed the infraction before Butterworth relayed the decision to the field.

The league will now assess whether additional disciplinary action, such as a suspension, is warranted for the incident, with a review scheduled for Monday.

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