Father’s boxing legacy persists on football field
Boxing is a mentality more than a sport, and is a big part of everything Ken Norton Jr. does. The Raiders defensive coordinator fires up his players on the Napa practice field like a corner man does his boxer, just like trainers used to with his dad, the late former world champion, Ken Norton.
The team’s defensive calls are all named after former champions in the ring, like the “Holyfield” and “Tyson” sets. Norton Jr. will also mix in footage of big fights with game film, or tell players stories of famous boxers, the price they paid and the edge they needed to win a bout — or a football game, as the case may be.
“There are so many carryovers from boxing to football,” Norton Jr. said. “Hands, feet, eyes, balance, toughness. … You have to have great vision and instincts, and have to have great conditioning. My players hear it all, so they’re big boxing fans now.”
Norton’s father will be inducted into the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame on Aug. 12. Norton Jr. won’t be able to attend because the Raiders have a preseason game against the Rams that day. But he said the family is touched by the honor.
“For him to be recognized for what he did is really important to me and all his kids,” Norton Jr. said. “He loved what he did and always wore his hat, from the International Hall of Fame, and his rings. It makes us all very proud.
Norton Jr. was too young as a kid — from ages 4-12 — to attend his father’s fights, but he remembers waiting for him in the hotel room afterward.
“You wouldn’t want your son to see you get knocked around and all the blood, so I wasn’t allowed to attend the fights,” Norton Jr. said. “We would wait in the hotel room with my grandmother, and he would walk in the room with the sunglasses on and his eyes covered up.”
The celebrations were memorable on the single father’s rise from Joe Frazier’s sparring partner to world champ who broke Muhammad Ali’s jaw.
“We went from one-bedroom apartments in Compton (Los Angeles County) to twobedroom houses in Compton to four-bedroom houses in Ladera Heights (Los Angeles County),” Norton Jr. said. “He was very successful, and we just kept moving up as he won more fights. It was a lot of fun.”
As much as he loves boxing, it was never in the cards for the younger Norton.
“He told me early on that boxing was something he did,” Norton Jr. said, “so I didn’t have to do it. I could do anything I wanted to do in life but not box. I said, ‘OK, Dad.’ He was a guy I always listened to.”
Norton Jr. started playing football, and he saw the light in high school, when he saw a teammate running laps.
“I asked someone who was that guy running around the high school track,” Norton said. “They said it was Ralph, and Ralph got a scholarship to college. I was frozen. ‘They give scholarships to college?’ I’m going to do what Ralph does, and that started my quest to go to college.”
Norton went on to play linebacker for UCLA and for the Cowboys and 49ers in the NFL. He wanted to send out a similar wake-up call to kids, so he held a defensive clinic for Oakland high school players and coaches in June. It was at the Raiders facility, and Norton hoped that “being exposed to success grabs them.” That, and knowing there is a support system to help them succeed.