“Fire him” “Game’s gone soft”: NFL fans react as Jonathan Gannon gets $100,000 fine for punching Cardinals RB Emari Demercado

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The Arizona Cardinals lost to the Tennessee Titans in Week 5, and the game was marked by one specific play. Running back Emari Demercado had a free lane to the end zone, but he dropped the ball at the one-yard line. Instead of a touchdown, it was a touchback with no points for Arizona.

Demercado was sorry for his mistake on the sidelines. But coach Jonathan Gannon had none of it. Inexplicably, the coach walked to the running back and punched him twice while he was consoled by his teammates.

On Tuesday, it was revealed that the Arizona Cardinals fined Gannon $100,000 for the punching. There was no fine from the league, but the organization decided to punish the coach nevertheless. NFL fans took to Twitter and reacted to the news: some wanted Gannon gone from the league, while others stated that the league had become "too soft":

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"Fire him", said one fan.

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"Game's gone soft", a second fan wrote. "They should fine Demercado the same amount for that drop", a third fan criticized.

Thought it said firing for a sec

Are they fining the RB for fumbling at the goal line without contact?

This was not the only mistake by Arizona during the game. There was also an interception whose returner suffered a fumble that ended in a touchdown for the Titans. Late in the game, a blown coverage resulted in a big play from Cam Ward to Calvin Ridley to put the Titans in game-winning field goal range.

Jonathan Gannon apologized to Emari Demercado in Cardinals team meeting

On Monday, the coach spoke to reporters and acknowledged his mistake. Gannon revealed that he wasn't happy with his actions and apologized to players in a team meeting.

"I woke up this morning and didn't feel great about it, honestly. I just told [the team], 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.

The 2-3 record now has the Arizona Cardinals two games behind the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC West.

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About the author

Henrique Bulio

Henrique Bulio is an NFL and College Football journalist at Sportskeeda and the Editor-in-Chief of Pro Football Brasil. He has a total 13 years of experience working in American Football, and playing quarterback at an amateur level in Brazil has given him a unique perspective of the game.

Henrique follows the Philadelphia Eagles closely due to Michael Vick's historic performance on MNF against the Washington Commanders in 2010. His all-time favorite player is Ed Reed; he believes that Reed is the greatest safety to ever play the game. Bill Belichick gets the nod as Henrique's favorite coach for coaching the Patriots to glory over two decades.

If Henrique were to be able to go back in time and watch one game, it would be Super Bowl XLIX, where the Patriots and the Seahawks played a complete, back-and-forth game that concluded with one of the biggest talking points in NFL history.

Technical deep dives are Henrique’s specialty, and he ensures never to use misleading words in his articles, since he himself consumes a lot of information off the web. He has had the privilege of interviewing Cairo Santos, Lamar Jackson, Jim Harbaugh, Sean McDermott, Bruce Arians, Matt LaFleur, among others.

Aside from football, Henrique likes to play poker and Counter-Strike.

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