Top Ten Detroit Lions Stories of 2011: The handshake heard 'round the NFL

Detroit still has its regular season finale against Green Bay on Sunday, as well as a ticket to the NFL playoffs, but as this year draws to a close, we're taking a look back at this season's 10 biggest news stories for the Lions. One by one, we'll count them down until we get to the top story as the clock strikes midnight on New Year's Eve. You'll find all the entries published so far, in one place, by clicking here.

No. 3: HANDSHAKE-GATE
Post-game handshakes between opposing head coaches have had their tense moments, but never like the one between Detroit's Jim Schwartz and San Francisco's Jim Harbaugh. Following the 49ers' late-game Week 6 comeback to hand the Lions their first loss of the season, the two coaches approached each other for the typical handshake. An overjoyed Harbaugh took Schwartz's hand, but then shoved him by with the other hand.

Looking for an explanation, Schwartz got a profanity instead, at which point he launched into orbit, chasing Harbaugh down the field and toward the tunnel. Players and security had to separate the two coaches. After the game, Harbaugh was dismissive, but Schwartz was still clearly upset. Even players exchanged barbs via Twitter, well after the game was over. The embarrassing incident was the talk of the NFL, and made national headlines, before the controversy calmed down.

The two teams could meet again in the second round of the playoffs if the Lions clinch the No. 5 seed and beat the NFC East champion.

Source: http://www.mlive.com/lions/index.ssf/2011/12/top_ten_detroit_lions_stories_7.html

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