This is the interaction between Jonathan Gannon and Emari Demercado that led to a $100K fine
The Arizona Cardinals have fined head coach Jonathan Gannon $100,000 for an interaction between him and his running back on Sunday.
On Sunday, the Tennessee Titans beat the Arizona Cardinals by one point to end their losing streak. The Cardinals made several costly mistakes that led to the loss, including one by running back Emari Demercado. The mistake has head coach Jonathan Gannon so angry, he reacted pretty poorly and ended up paying for it - literally.
Jonathan Gannon’s $100K mistake
Demercado made a 72-yard run all the way to the end zone, but he dropped the football before crossing the goal line. The ball then rolled to the back for a touchback, giving the Titans the ball and an opportunity to score...which they did.
Imagine being Emari Demercado… play football your whole life… work your ass off… you need James Conner and Trey Benson to BOTH go down for you to have any relevancy… you FINALLY get your chance and you let the ball go for a game-changing fumble at GL
— John Frascella (Football) (@NFLFrascella) October 5, 2025
pic.twitter.com/2zCKEcJMwa
The Cardinals had a 21-7 lead at that time, but the mistake led to the start of the Titans’ comeback. After the fumble, Gannon then went up to Demercado and yelled right in his face and appeared to swipe his arm. Have a look:
Arizona Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon gotta be fire immediately You can't put hands on players like this. Because if a player did this he'd be out of the league immediately pic.twitter.com/HCYzmiUXZK
— 112 Fighting Sports (@112FIGHTNSPORTS) October 6, 2025
After the game, Gannon apologized to Demercado and the team:
“I woke up this morning and didn’t feel great about it, honestly,” Gannon said. “So in the team meeting I addressed it, I apologized to Emari, apologized to the team. I just told them I let the moment of what happened get the better of me.”
ESPN reporting the #AZCardinals are fining head coach Jonathan Gannon $100K for his sideline exchange with RB Emari Demercado.
— Cameron Cox (@CamCox12) October 7, 2025
Gannon apologized to Demercado and the team yesterday... and said Demercado wouldn't face any punishment for dropping the ball before the end zone.… pic.twitter.com/lwqgPfo7Zz
The Cardinals fined Gannon $100,000 for the incident, but the NFL will not take any action against him. In a statement, they said they’d been in contact with the NFLPA and the team. “There is no further action from the league," they wrote.
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