The story behind the story of the infamous Harbaugh-Schwartz handshake
Albert Breer shares the story behind the story of “the handshake” between Jim Harbaugh and Jim Schwartz in 2011 with Toucher & Hardy.
In a mid-October game between the Lions and the 49ers, Jim Harbaugh’s aggressive coaching style came to a head. The 49ers won 25-19 in a highly emotional game. Harbaugh, ecstatic about the victory, aggressively approached Schwartz for the customary post-game handshake. Harbaugh’s handshake involved a hard slap on Schwartz’s back, leading to a heated confrontation.
The backstory, as explained by Albert Breer from theMMQB.com, reveals that during an earlier coaches’ dinner amid the lockout year, Schwartz made a comment about new coaches facing challenges. Harbaugh took offense and held a grudge for six months. The handshake incident was the result of this lingering tension from that dinner.
WATCH HERE:
From yesterday’s show. @AlbertBreer shares the story behind the story of the infamous handshake between Harbaugh and Schwartz @HardyRadio @KenGriffeyRules @985TheSportsHub pic.twitter.com/5na3GKbA5V
— Toucher & Hardy (@toucherandhardy) January 20, 2024
TRANSCRIPT:
Hardy: It was a Lions 49ers game in 2011. Very emotional win for Jim Harbaugh standing over on the 49ers sideline. They ended up winning 25-19. He comes charging across the field for the coaches handshake. It was a very aggressive handshake from a Harbaugh who shook Jim Schwartz’s hand, who was the head coach of the Lions at the time. Kind of pulled him in, kind of slapped him on the back and almost pushed him aside. Schwartz then ran after him and said, what the f was that? And tried to grab him afterward. It was like a whole thing. So I just chalked it up to Schwartz being hard on. But what is the story behind the story, Albert?
Albert Breer: One thing I respect about Harbaugh is how long you can hold a grudge and how he’s kind of vindictive. That was the lockout year. The owners meeting was moved to New Orleans. Buildings are shut down for the most part. Coaches are working amongst themselves. No players. And it sure looks like they’re not going to get the players back until the summer. At this owners meeting, a bunch of coaches, probably 7 or 8 head coaches are out to dinner. They’re all drinking and having a good time. And Schwartz is there and Harbaugh is there. Stewards basically announce to the table, yeah. And all these new coaches, they’re really screwed. And everybody starts laughing. And Harbaugh sits there and he’s not laughing. He’s looking straight at Schwartz and he doesn’t say anything. And he files it away. And it burned him up for six months. And the handshake was the result of that moment.
Fred Toucher: He’s a sociopath.
Nick Gemelli is a Producer on Toucher & Hardy and contributor for 985thesportshub.com. Follow Nick at @NickGemelli on Twitter.
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