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League office directed the ejection of Dre Greenlaw
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- League office directed the ejection of Dre Greenlaw
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.
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"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.
