ATHENS - Missouri defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson's "old man football" comment about Georgia took on a life of its own last week. It became one of the storylines for the game, if not the biggest one.

And in the waning moments of the game, as Georgia finished off a 41-20 victory, Bulldog fans at Faurot Field chanted "old man football" for several minutes.

Richardson was kept off limits from the media last week. But after the game he personally apologized to Georgia head coach Mark Richt, according to an account from an AP photographer.

The scene was witnessed, and photographed, by L.G. Patterson, an Associated Press photographer in Columbia. When Patterson tweeted out his picture, with the note that Richardson had apologized, it was re-tweeted by Chad Moller, Missouri's sports information director.

Patterson, via e-mail, described the postgame meeting this way:

"After Coach Richt stopped his players from jumping on the MU logo at center field, Richardson walked up to Richt and leaned towards his ear and said something I couldn't hear. As coach walked away, he turned to Richardson and said 'Apology accepted.' "

Richt hasn't been available yet to talk about it. He was replaced on his Sunday teleconference by the coordinators while attending a family matter; the coordinators are also expected to fill in for him on Monday's radio show.

Richardson finished Saturdays' game with five tackles, including one for loss.

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UPDATE: Here's what Richt said about the conversation with Richardson:

"Sheldon basically said it was a good game, and coach I have a lot of respect for you and your team. He said he didn't mean to disrespect. You could tell he was sincerely a pretty good guy. I thought it was big of him to grab me and say that he had a lot of respect for our program and our team. He's a good player."