Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon was seen having a heated moment with Emari Demercado on Sunday after the running back dropped a would-be touchdown short of the goal line. The mental mistake ultimately cost Arizona a victory so it's tough to overstate just how devastating such a gaffe is to a team. Still, Gannon's confrontation with Demercado turned some heads as he aggressively slapped the offending player's pads.
Given some time to get away from the heat of the moment, Gannon offered up an apology on Monday.
"I actually, I woke up this morning and didn't feel great about it, honestly," he said. "And, so, in the team meeting I addressed it. I apologized to Emari, I apologized to the team and I just told them, I kind of let the moment of what happened get the better of me there. Obviously, I try to be emotionally stable and calm because my job is to solve problems during a game and lead the charge on that. So, it's not really who I am, who I want to be and I told the guys that today."
While it's possible everyone involved in the incident has moved on the topic was still fodder for the sports debate shows on Tuesday. Including Get Up, where former Colts coach Jeff Saturday offered his perspective.
"He was dead wrong and he knows it," Saturday said of Gannon. "Take aside all the fumble ... dead wrong. You don't put your hands on another man. You can be upset. You can be frustrated. You can say what you gotta say to him, you don't put your hands on them."
"[Jonathan Gannon] was dead wrong and he knows it."@SaturdayJeff shares his thoughts following the incident between Jonathan Gannon and Emari Demercado last Sunday ✍️ pic.twitter.com/rHkH07Prgd
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) October 7, 2025
Saturday continued, acknowledging that Gannon seems to have done the right thing in addressing the situation.
"I felt that was an authentic apology. I felt like he meant what he said. I thought about it last night, I blew it. I made a mistake as well. I appreciate him saying that to the team, addressing the team first before he did it through the press."
The Cardinals must get on the same page quickly to compete in the NFC West. They enter Week 6 with a 2-3 record and sole possession of last place in the division.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Former NFL Coach Says Jonathan Gannon 'Dead Wrong' For Putting Hands on His Player.
