49ers bury the hatchet with 'Big Dom' over sideline altercation
San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan made no effort to hide his annoyance over the sideline altercation between linebacker Dre Greenlaw and Philadelphia Eagles head of security Dom DiSandro on Sunday. But 24 hours later, with the 49ers basking in the glow of a 42-19 road win over their chief rival in the NFC, […]
San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan made no effort to hide his annoyance over the sideline altercation between linebacker Dre Greenlaw and Philadelphia Eagles head of security Dom DiSandro on Sunday.
But 24 hours later, with the 49ers basking in the glow of a 42-19 road win over their chief rival in the NFC, San Francisco appears to have buried the hatchet with the man affectionately known as 'Big Dom'.
Greenlaw was ejected from the game in the third quarter after taking a swing at DiSandro as tempers flared following a personal foul call against the defender.
The officials threw the flag against Greenlaw for slamming receiver DeVonta Smith to the turf after his forward progress had stopped. The pair exchanged heated words next to the Philadelphia sideline, with DiSandro inserting himself into the situation by appearing to put his hand on Greenlaw.
DiSandro was also asked to leave the field, and Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni apologized to Shanahan after the game.
Shanahan was clearly still irritated in his post-game press conference, saying: "I just can’t believe someone uninvolved in a football game can taunt our players like that and put their hands in our guy’s face. From what I was told, Dre did it back to him and I was told that he mashed him in the face a little bit, so he got ejected. It was a very frustrating play."
Asked for further thoughts during his Monday conference call, it was evident Shanahan's stance had softened considerably.
"My thoughts are pretty much the same as yesterday," Shanahan said. "It was hard to accept Dre getting kicked out of that game for something that didn't involve someone that had to do with that game. But I definitely don't have any hard feelings towards Dom or anything like that. I don't want anyone to go too hard on him.
"I think he just got caught in a weird situation, in an emotional situation. So, no hard feelings towards him. I know a lot of people who know him and speak very highly of him. I just couldn't believe we lost our player because of it.
"Sometimes you're in areas you shouldn't be in, and you get close to a player, and I just was upset our player got suspended over someone that had him kicked out of a big game. But I don't think there's nothing that he did extraordinarily bad. It's just guys shouldn't be around that area, and that's something that I don't think was totally fair to our player. It wasn't anything personal against him.
"Stuff happens. I'm sure he regrets that, but I hear he does a hell of a job for that organization, and people speak very highly of him as a dude."
Shanahan's comments follow a report from NFL Network's Mike Garafolo that DiSandro spoke with 49ers general manager John Lynch after the game to explain the situation. Garafolo said the conversation ended on a good note.
The incident was the strangest moment of a memorable game for the 49ers but, with some time to calm down and some space, the two sides look to have mended the fence.
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