The NFL has again hit Dre Greenlaw in the wallet after the San Francisco 49ers linebacker added another costly moment to a season already packed with discipline.
Greenlaw was fined $12,537 for unnecessary roughness after cameras showed him punching Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Drake London in the helmet during San Francisco’s 29-20 loss. London had the ball and was trying to power through a tackle when Greenlaw’s blow stopped him cold and sent him to a concussion test.
Greenlaw said he was trying to punch the ball loose, but the punch missed its mark and landed on London’s helmet instead. Officials did not throw a flag on the play, but replay showed the contact clearly, and the league moved in before the 49ers’ Week 8 game against Las Vegas.
It was the latest chapter in a rough run for Greenlaw, who had just returned from a one-game suspension for a vicious Week 5 headbutt on Seattle Seahawks linebacker Ernest Jones IV. That hit left Jones bleeding after Greenlaw drove his helmet into Jones’ bare head, and Greenlaw was tossed immediately.
He appealed that suspension, but the league quickly rejected it. He sat out the Week 6 win over the Washington Commanders and lost his $200,000 game check in the process.
Greenlaw’s history with the league office stretches well beyond this season. He has been ejected three times in his eight-year NFL career, all of them coming in the last four years.
In 2023, he had a sideline altercation with Philadelphia’s head of security Dom DiSandro. He was also disqualified in 2022 for a helmet-to-helmet hit on the Chargers’ Justin Herbert.
Last season, Greenlaw was suspended for one game in Denver after berating an official following a win over the New York Giants. He was also fined $11,941 for taunting the Broncos’ sideline in a win on October 4.
His latest trouble started against Seattle on October 11 in the second quarter, when Sam Darnold scrambled out of bounds and Greenlaw hit him late, drawing a personal foul. Seahawks defenders immediately confronted him, and Greenlaw answered by head-butting Jones. Jones was bleeding after the collision, and Greenlaw was ejected.
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