BroBible
Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon is doing a bit of introspection after an ugly interaction with running back Emari Demercado on Sunday.
Demercado, who is in his third season in the NFL and with the Cards, drew attention for all the wrong reasons when he accidentally fumbled before crossing the goal line on a would-be 72-yard touchdown against the Tennessee Titans.
The score would have put Arizona up 27-6 in the fourth quarter. Instead, the ball went over to Tennessee, who proceeded to come back for an improbable 22-21 victory, its first of the season.
After the play, Gannon laid into Demercado, even going so far as to throw a small punch to the midsection in frustration.
Now he says he regrets that decision.
The interaction was so brutal that even the NFLPA got involved, opting to launch an investigation into the incident. On Monday, Gannon says he apologized to Demercado and expressed his regret for the way the moment went.
Jonathan Gannon response to the viral video going around on the sidelines speaking to Emari Demercado.
@AZCardinals pic.twitter.com/10ElaybTpM
— The AZ sports fan! (@TheAZsportsfan1) October 6, 2025
“I didn’t see the video, but yeah, I actually woke up this morning and didn’t feel great about it, honestly,” Gannon said. “And I just told him I kind of let the moment of what happened get the better of me then.”
To some degree, you can understand Gannon’s frustration. The third-year head coach is trying badly to change the culture in Arizona, and plays like that won’t do him any favors. It was an egregious mistake and one that proved entirely costly.
That being said, you just can’t treat players like that, especially in today’s era of the NFL. It’s easy to wonder if the Cardinals’ collapse was as much due to Gannon’s temper tantrum as it was Demercado’s mistake.
It’s good that he apologized, and it was probably necessary for the Cardinals to move forward from the situation.
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