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Schwartz Is Over The Handshake: 'None Of It Matters'

DETROIT (CBS Detroit) It was the handshake re-hashed 'round the world last year when the Lions' Jim Schwartz took offense at the level of jubilation the 49ers' Jim Harbaugh expressed at beating the Lions -- and his uber-strong handshake -- and chased him into the end zone.

But that was a long time ago, and Schwartz is over it.

"It doesn't add anything to the score," Schwartz said about pundits still fanning the controversy, during an interview with Doug Karsch and Scott Anderson on 97.1 The Ticket.

"The only thing that matters is coming out with a victory and scoring one more point than your opponent. Everything else is interesting for fans or people in the media. You can watch NFL Network or ESPN or listen to talk radio, you hear so many different soap operas whether it's player personalities or different thing that come up that have nothing to do with the game. And again it's good for the game, it's good for interest, it's good for fantasy football but none of it matters to us. The only thing that matters to us is trying to come out with a victory."

When asked by Anderson if he thought about chest bumping to start the game, he said, laughing, "Like I said, none of that stuff matters, the only thing that matters is playing well. having a good week of preparation, putting players in good position and scoring enough to win."

And on the subject of whether he usually chats with opposing coaches  -- and whether he'll do it again this week --   Schwartz said: "Usually say hello, that's about it…it depends."

When pressed about whether he could now joke about it with Harbaugh, Schwartz made it clear he was done with handshake-gate.

"You know I'm pretty much done with all those questions," Schwartz said. "I appreciate you guys asking and everything, but I don't know how many different ways I can say none of that stuff matters. We're gonna concentrate on the game."

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