Josh Norman: Contract makes him ‘a target’ for criticism
Josh Norman stood before his locker late Wednesday afternoon bathed in the glare of lights from television cameras. The Washington Redskins cornerback has always loved the glow that comes with being a football star, but this time he found himself in an unfamiliar position having to answer to the nagging questions that have surged since he was benched for a series in Monday night’s 43-19 loss at New Orleans. Has he lost a step?
“You 30 yrs old dude, life comes at you fast,” Saints receiver Michael Thomas had tweeted at Norman early Tuesday morning — a sharp suggestion that Norman is too old and too slow to make an impact. Former Redskins general manager Charley Casserly, now an analyst on the NFL Network, had recently said Norman is the team’s third-best cornerback. Ex-Redskin DeAngelo Hall said Norman was more consumed with being a celebrity than a football player. “Hollywood,” Hall had called it. Now, pressed against his locker, Norman squinted into the lights and lashed back.
“I’m a target, man, I am,” he said. “I’m a hot button. You press it, you’re going to get a ring.”
For nearly 10 minutes, the mostmaligned Redskin slashed away at the criticism. He blamed the negative attention from analysts like Casserly on his five year $58 million contract, implying that the size of the deal makes him a target.
“The number that you get - we’ve been hefty with the number — it comes with the territory or where we’re at,” he said in reference to his salary. “Obviously, he’s going to take shots.”
“And if I am the third-best corner, guess what? I’m pretty sure those guys are going to be great,” Norman continued. “Those other two (Fabian Moreau and Quinton Dunbar), I’m pumping up for them, I’m excited for what they are and what they can do and their abilities. Because guess what? We’re going to need that. If I’m slacking and if I’m that way, then guess what? Those guys, hey man, we’re going to be a great football team.”
But Norman seemed most wounded by Hall’s implication that he is more focused on an entertainment career than football. He spent part of bye week working on a television project and has appeared on Fox Sports’ halftime show. It was Hall, he said, who tried to recruit him to Washington after the Carolina Panthers (who the Redskins play Sunday) abruptly rescinded his franchise tag after the 2015 season — his best year in the NFL.
He said he admired Hall as a player and his shock at Hall’s words seem to imply he considered Hall to be a good friend. He said he had been considering Hall’s comments and decided Hall had put his interests in doing analysis on radio over friendship.
“It was kind of like when a microphone is in your face after you leave here, I guess that song is true: ‘Your smiling faces,’” he said.
As for what Hall said? Norman smiled.
“I’ve been Hollywood.,” he said. “Ever since I came out my mama’s womb, I’ve been Hollywood.”