Dec 3, 2023; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; San Francisco 49ers linebacker Dre Greenlaw (57) has an altercation with Philadelphia Eagles staff member Dom DiSandro during the third quarter at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
NFL: San Francisco 49ers at Philadelphia Eagles
(Philadelphia, PA) – After the Eagles saw a once promising season sputter and then completely unravel, people are continuing to search for answers in Philadelphia.
Sports talker Craig Carton sort of seemed to imply that there could have been an issue of infidelity – as in a teammate sleeping with one of his teammate’s girlfriends or wives. ESPN’s Adam Schefter says his reporting suggests that’s bogus. But a new theory has emerged, and it’s big. Specifically, Big Dom.
During the Eagles Week 13 loss at home to the San Francisco 49ers (a 42-19 beat down from which Philly never really recovered) “Big Dom” Dom DiSandro got into an altercation with an opposing player. TV cameras caught Dom and 49ers LB Dre Greenlaw bumped into each other and had words.
In response, the NFL suspended DiSandro and barred him from being on the sidelines during games. At the time, it seemed like a dramatic and somewhat interesting footnote in the Eagles’ blowout loss. But it may have been even more than that.
Derrick Gunn of JAKIB Sports says DiSandro played a major role in keeping head coach Nick Siranni calm on the sideline, and in mediating disagreements between the coach and others.
For example, if Siranni got into it with a player or assistant coach, Big Dom helped smooth things over. With him not being there, those types of disagreements tended to boil over into a bigger deal than they otherwise might have been.
After starting out 10-1, Philadelphia dropped five of their last six games and made a quick exit in the Wild Card round of the playoffs. Some speculated Siranni was at risk of losing his job, but he was retained. His offensive and defensive coordinators were canned – replaced by Kellen Moore at OC and Vic Fangio at DC.
