A former Pro Bowler has advocated for an lowly NFC West club to fire its coach following a controversial moment.
When Arizona Cardinals running back Emari Demercado botched a 72-yard touchdown bid by dropping the pigskin prior to crossing over the goal line, handing the team its third consecutive loss last weekend (it has now lost four straight bouts), head coach Jonathan Gannon lost it.
Cardinals RB Emari Demercado with a 72-yard touchdown run, but he dropped the ball before the goal line... pic.twitter.com/JPMm726fDO
— Arye Pulli (@AryePulliNFL) October 5, 2025
Gannon berated Demarcado on the sidelines, and appeared to touch him as he walked away.
A sideline meltdown killed the vibe
Although the Cardinals had been leading the Los Angeles Rams by multiple touchdowns, 21-6, at the time, the club subsequently fell apart, fumbling the lead in a winnable game.
Gannon was dinged for a $100,000 fine, per Adam Schefter of ESPN.
Former three-time Pro Bowl running back Maurice Jones-Drew, now the Rams' color analyst, took to X to weigh in on the controversial moment.
Fine he should be fired bc if the player did that to him he would get cut smh
— Maurice Jones-Drew (@MJD) October 7, 2025
"Fine," Jones-Drew tweeted. "He should be fired bc if the player did that to him he would get cut smh."
Jones-Drew isn't the only former NFL star to call out Gannon for his lack of comportment in the moment.
Former two-time Super Bowl champion defensive end Chris Long, son of Hall of Famer Howie and older brother to three-time Pro Bowl guard Kyle, took to his show "Green Light with Chris Long" to reflect on the incident.
Coaches shouldn’t be putting their hands on their players… pic.twitter.com/ID67dzr8OW
— Green Light with Chris Long (@greenlight) October 7, 2025
"First off, I'm a fan of John Gannon," Long said. "Brother, you can't do that. And I know there's some fans out there, like there's a lot of fans that are like, 'Well, toughen up and all that s---,' 'cause some little league coach pushed them or something. But bro, this is like a grown man game. Don't f---ing put your hands on me. Do not."
Gannon himself expressed regret over the confrontation.
"I didn't see the video, but I actually woke up this morning and didn't feel great about it, honestly," Gannon said, per TalkSport. "And so in the team meeting, I addressed it. I apologize to Emari, I apologized to the team, I just told them, I kind of let the moment of what happened get the better of me there."
MORE NEWS: Rams star Puka Nacua helped to locker room with foot injury in Week 6 vs. Ravens