PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon was reportedly hit with a six-figure fine on Tuesday due to his heated exchange with running back Emari Demercado on the sideline after Demercado dropped the football before crossing the goal line in Sunday’s 22-21 loss to the Tennessee Titans.
The team fined Gannon $100,000 for the altercation, according to multiple reports. The NFL reportedly said there will be no further action from the league.
Jonathan Gannon is the first NFL head coach to be fined for an altercation with a player since the NFL fined former Bucs HC Bruce Arians $50,000 for swiping his hand at safety Andrew Adams’ helmet during a January 2022 wild-card game against Philadelphia. https://t.co/yWFuAPAQfi
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 7, 2025
Demercado would have had a 72-yard touchdown run with about 12:40 left in the game that would have put the Red Birds up 28-6 at home against the Titans. But before he crossed the goal line, he let go of the football and it was ruled a touchback since the ball went out of the endzone.
After the blunder, Gannon went looking for Demercado. He found Demercado, who had a teammate’s arm around him. Video from a fan showed Gannon irate, yelling at Demercado and hitting him on the shoulder pad.
Demercado wasn’t benched and Gannon later said he had built up frustration from all the mistakes in the game. Gannon apologized for the incident on Monday.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter was the first to report the fine and noted Gannon is the first head coach to be fined by his team since January 2022.
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