Eagles

The Question is Whether or Not that was Big Dom’s Situation to Defuse

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Dec 5th, 2023 · 9:57 AM EST

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When you go through social media looking for clips of the Big Dom and Dre Greenlaw situation from the other night, it’s hard to find anything that shows the sequence from start to finish. Most clips begin with the first physical contact, and take it from there, but it’s hard to find the tackle that started the altercation. This particular clip goes back a little further, and uses the original broadcast angle:

This is the video people need to see.

Big Dom did nothing but separate both Smith and Greenlaw. The Fox replay only shows Dom pushing Greenlaw when he actually separated both players involved at the same in a non hostile manner. This is a non-issue pic.twitter.com/6xAPvJHQyV

— Super Two Sports (@SuperTwoSports) December 4, 2023

Watching it back again, the situation really does seem overblown.

In chronological order:

1. Greenlaw does a suplex to get DeVonta Smith down, maybe unnecessary, but not the worst thing ever done on a football field
2. ref throws the flag
3. Smitty gets up and takes umbrage
4. Greenlaw gets in his face
5. Dom gets in there, puts his left hand on Greenlaw, and gives a pseudo-push, but it’s really more of a hand on the chest and separation if we’re being honest, it really didn’t look like there was much force applied
6. two officials are also in there
7. Greenlaw brushes Dom’s upper lip (looked like a dirty sanchez)
8. Dom reacts, but no further contact after that
9. both guys are tossed

Speaking on Monday, Nick Sirianni said he had not heard anything from the league in terms of punishment, but said this:

“Dom is as good as they get in this business. I’m so thankful for him. He’s going to always try to defuse situations, right? That’s what he does. That’s his job. And so obviously unfortunate, but I know in Dom’s heart, he truly was trying to defuse the situation right there. I’m sad that it came to what it came to, that anybody got thrown out of the game. The play was what it was. There was a lot of emotion in that game. I’ve seen Dom have to do that before where he’s trying to defuse the situation. Again, that’s what he does. Yeah, I know where his heart is and it’s truly to defuse the situation and to stop what was going on, on the sideline.”

It’s really a question of whether or not that was Big Dom’s situation to defuse. Is that part of the job? His bio says he “oversees all safety and security matters for players, coaches, and executives,” but does that extend to in-game sequences where the officials are already in place? He’s always on the sidelines providing security, but in this case he involved himself in the game.

Sure, if a huge scrum broke out and the situation got out of control, you’d see coaches and security all jump in to try to get things settled. But in this case, Dom is physically contacting another player in the white boundary, while Eagles strength coach Ted Rath grabs Smith around the waist and pulls him back. Key difference there – Dom touching an opposing player while Rath only grabs Smitty instead. I think if Dom was doing what Rath was doing, then this would have been a total nothing burger with no ejections.

Like most things in the NFL these days, it feels like this one was overblown. We’ll see what the league does, because the rules do have to be enforced, but when we look at the sequence in totality, there wasn’t anything egregious going on. Greenlaw and Dom both getting tossed was a little lame.

Beau Allen discussed it with us on Crossing Broadcast:

“I’d fucking die for Big Dom.” – @Beau_Allen #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/Puwa8Imjfg

— Crossing Broad (@CrossingBroad) December 4, 2023