Schwartz says he's seen Harbaugh since handshake
Jim Schwartz fields questions about handshake
Copyright Getty Images
Posted: 09/10/2012
ALLEN PARK, Mich. -
Detroit Lions coach Jim Schwartz says he's seen San Francisco coach Jim Harbaugh "a bunch of times" since their altercation last season.
Schwartz ran after Harbaugh in October after the 49ers' coach gave him an exuberant handshake and backslap following San Francisco's victory at Detroit. Schwartz says that's long in the past now, with the Lions preparing to play at San Francisco this Sunday.
"Well sure I've seen him a bunch of times since. There's a bunch of NFL things that go on after the season. It doesn't surprise me. The NFL is a very scrutinized thing," said Schwartz. "I heard somebody called today 'overreaction Monday.' It's always reaction Monday and everything else. Like I said, there are 16 teams that are on their way to the Super Bowl and 16 teams that might not win a game this year. There's something to the scrutiny in this league. It comes with it.
"That's long in the past. It just seems so long ago that that occurred. When two teams take the field, that's not going to be on one player’s mind and that's the only thing that's important." Schwartz was asked how any handshakes with Harbaugh have gone since their dustup. He said: "Without incident."
"Ya'll are going to hype it up more than it is as far as what went on last year, but we just want to go out there and get a W," said Cliff Avril, a Lions defensive end, with a smile. "I've seen the commercials [of the incident] so I figured I knew what everybody was talking about. But for us it's just another game we just want to go and win."
Detroit opened the season with a 27-23 victory over the St. Louis Rams, rallying to win on Matthew Stafford's short touchdown pass to Kevin Smith with 10 seconds left. San Francisco beat the Packers in its opener.
Harbaugh refers to it as a "mini controversy" and "completely irrelevant," eager to keep the focus on the players for both teams. Running back Frank Gore insists that everybody has moved forward, especially after a 30-22 season-opening victory Sunday at Green Bay.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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