While the 49ers won a a hard fought game over the previously unbeaten Lions, 25-19 to go to 5-1, the near-coaches brawl after the game was almost more intense than the game itself.
An exuberant 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh ran over to Lions coach Jim Schwartz and shook his hand a little too enthusiastically, jumping up and down in celebration and patting Schwartz on the back.
Schwartz then proceeded to chase Harbaugh down to have a few words with him, pushing him a few times. Players stepped in to separate the coaches.
Harbaugh admitted he slapped Schwartz’s hand too hard, as he said on SFGate.com: “I was really revved up. That was on me a little, too hard a handshake there.”
Harbaugh then said he got a jostled by Schwartz after Schwartz chased him 40 yards down the field. “I do get emotional, I do get fired up. A lot. I not going to apologize for that. If that offends you or anybody else, so be it.”
Schwartz has been quoted as saying: “I went to congratulate Coach Harbaugh and got shoved out of the way. And then I didn’t expect an obscenity at that point, so it was a surprise to me at the end of the game.”
Videos of the incident and the post-incident melee are included below.
