Honk-gate, the Phantom Honk, the Honk Heard 'Cross the Bay -- whatever you want to call it, San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh says it never happened.
Following the Seattle Seahawks' 42-13 beatdown of the 49ers on Sunday night, two Seahawk defensive backs, Earl Thomas and Richard Sherman, told Mike Silver of Yahoo! Sports that Harbaugh honked his car horn and waved at their bus following the 49ers' victory over the Seahawks in October.
Harbaugh denied the accusation Monday:
"No. No, that did not occur. That's a fabrication," he said, via the San Francisco Chronicle.
Harbaugh said the incident couldn't have happened because he didn't leave Candlestick Park that day until after the Seahawks had already left.
"I can't think of a time when I've left the game and the other team's still been there this entire season," he said.
While this particular controversy might be contrived, what is not is the bitterness being built between these division rivals. The Seahawks -- feeling like they've had to live in the shadow of the 49ers hype -- have played with a chip on their shoulder all season, and gained a pyschological edge after Sunday's blowout.
Follow Kevin Patra on Twitter @kpatra.
