Emari Demercado had the second-highest rushing total of his NFL career in the Arizona Cardinals’ 27-17 win over the Dallas Cowboys on Monday at AT&T Stadium.
The game was a homecoming of sorts for the California native, who spent five seasons with TCU and was a member of the vaunted 2022 Horned Frogs team that reached the national championship game.
Demercado ran 14 times Monday for 79 yards — two yards short of his career high — in his first game back from an ankle injury. It was his heaviest workload of the season by far; he hadn’t carried more than three times in a game this season.
Demercado now has the top two rushing games for a Cardinals running back this season, and had one of his best days as an NFL pro with some friends, family and former teammates in attendance.
“It meant a lot,” he said. “So coming back here is almost like home for me at this point. Finally get a win in the stadium. Last two times I played here, I lost. Yeah, it meant everything, kind of felt like another homecoming.”
Unselected in the 2023 NFL draft, Demercado signed with the Cardinals and has spent the past three seasons in Arizona.
A couple of weeks ago, Demercado was in the headlines after fumbling the ball before crossing the goal line, helping the Cardinals blow a big lead in a loss to the Tennessee Titans. He talked Monday about bouncing back from the mistake.
“Just had to move past [it], you know, just come play my game ... just be the type of player I am,” he said. “It is what it is, can’t do nothing about it now, so just move forward and keep being who I am.”
Demercado also talked about what the support from TCU has meant to him over his career and reminisced about the 2022 season.
“It means the word to me that season, something I never forget,” he said. “Glad I stuck in because I was thinking about leaving a few times, but yeah, that year, it’ll be unforgettable. That’s something I’ll be talking about on my deathbed.”
Demercado said he visited with this year’s TCU team when it played Arizona State and said it’s always good to see his fellow Horned Frogs.
Demercado and the Cardinals (3-5) will look to start a winning streak when they play at the Seattle Seahawks at 3:05 p.m. Sunday.