NFL head coach Jonathan Gannon was fined $100,000 by the Arizona Cardinals for an intense sideline altercation with running back Emari Demercado on Sunday.
The interaction happened after Demercado inexplicably fumbled just before scoring what would have been a 72-yard touchdown. Here’s a clip:
According to Adam Schefter, Gannon’s discipline represents the first time an NFL head coach has been fined for an altercation with a player since then-Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians was hit with a $50,000 penalty for “swiping his hand at a player’s helmet” during a playoff game in January 2022.
Gannon has been the Cardinals head coach since 2023, and he was obviously frustrated after Demercado’s fumble that was part of a fourth-quarter meltdown that saw a 21-6 Arizona lead evaporate into a 22-21 loss to the previously winless Titans. Gannon said on Monday that he had apologized to Demercado for the incident.
Gannon’s penalty on Tuesday made the wrong kind of history for himself and his team, which dropped to 2-3 with Sunday’s loss. Schefter reported that there would be no further discipline against Gannon, who played safety at Louisville in 2001 and 2002 and coached at Louisville briefly before starting a long coaching career in the NFL.
The Cardinals play the Colts on Sunday.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
