Niners Fans Recalling One Epic Dre Greenlaw Play After His SF Tenure Ends

Greenlaw came up huge in the final game of the regular season in 2019.
Greenlaw helped push the 49ers to a Super Bowl appearance in his rookie season
Greenlaw helped push the 49ers to a Super Bowl appearance in his rookie season / Kyle Terada-Imagn Images
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As Dre Greenlaw finds a new home with the Denver Broncos, San Francisco 49ers fans are recalling some of his best moments with the franchise that drafted and rostered him for the first six years of his career.

2019 was a year to remember for the 49ers and Greenlaw in particular, who announced himself as a rookie, starting the final nine games of the regular season and all three playoff games.

While the campaign ultimately did not end with a Super Bowl win for the Niners, San Francisco earned itself an NFC West title—its first since 2012 at the time—and a trip to the Super Bowl after winning the NFC.

One moment that stands out among the rest is the goal-line stop at the end of the final game of the regular season where San Francisco was up against the Seattle Seahawks with the winner to take the NFC West. Lots of Niners fans were remembering Greenlaw's major contribution to the game-winning stop on social media after the news that he would officially not be returning to the Niners on Monday.

Here's a great look at the full stop on YouTube.

Down 26–21, Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson led the Seahawks down 70-plus yards to the goal line where the 49ers defense held the Seahawks without a score.

The first down was a delay of game on a failed spike from Wilson. Second down was a near-interception that went out of bounds. Third down was an incomplete pass. Then came the unforgettable fourth down stop: Wilson connected with Jacob Hollister at the goal line. It looked like a quick lean would be all the receiver needed to break the plane, but instead, Dre Greenlaw happened. The linebacker stood firm and took the receiver down just short of six points that would have put the Seahawks ahead by one before an extra point attempt with 12 seconds remaining in the game.

It was only his rookie year, but it was easily one of his most memorable and biggest plays in red and gold.

Greenlaw agreed on a deal with the Broncos Monday for three years, $35 million, according to reports.


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Josh Wilson
JOSH WILSON

Josh Wilson is the news director of the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI in 2024, he worked for FanSided in a variety of roles, most recently as senior managing editor of the brand’s flagship site. He has also served as a general manager of Sportscasting, the sports arm of a start-up sports media company, where he oversaw the site’s editorial and business strategy. Wilson has a bachelor’s degree in mass communications from SUNY Cortland and a master’s in accountancy from the Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois. He loves a good nonfiction book and enjoys learning and practicing Polish. Wilson lives in Chicago but was raised in upstate New York. He spent most of his life in the Northeast and briefly lived in Poland, where he ate an unhealthy amount of pastries for six months.