Coach fight! Coach fight!
San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh was excited by his team's upset of the Detroit Lions on Sunday, and it led to a wild postgame confrontation with the opposing coach, Jim Schwartz.
On NFL Network
"NFL Replay" will re-air the
49ers' 25-19 win over the
Lions on Tuesday, Oct. 18 at 9:30 p.m. ET.
Here's what happened: Seconds after the 49ers completed their 25-19 victory, an elated Harbaugh skipped toward midfield for the customary handshake between coaches. In his fired-up state, Harbaugh slapped Schwartz's hand, allegedly uttered an expletive, then ran off to continue his celebration. This didn't sit well with Schwartz, who chased down Harbaugh and verbally confronted him before the coaches were separated by players from both sides.
"I went to congratulate Coach Harbaugh and got shoved out of the way," Schwartz said during his postgame news conference. "I didn't expect an obscenity at that point, so it was a surprise to me at the end of the game.
"Obviously when you win a game like that, you're excited and things like that, but I think there's a protocol that goes with this league."
Yes, that was a "protocol" burn by Schwartz right there.
Harbaugh admitted afterward that his emotions, in the immediate aftermath of a big victory, got the best of him.
"I was really revved up," Harbaugh told NFL Network's Albert Breer. "That wasn't me, just shook his hand too hard. ... That's on me. Handshake was too hard."
What a scene. Schwartz appeared to inadvertently bump into Harbaugh after chasing him down, so it'll be interesting to see if any NFL discipline comes out of this (league spokesman Greg Aiello told The Associated Press that the incident will be reviewed). Either way, it added an exclamation point to an already intriguing afternoon at Ford Field.
