Josh Norman takes dig at Odell Beckham Jr., spars with Deion Sanders
SAN JOSE, Calif. – Josh Norman didn't want to hear about Odell Beckham Jr. Didn't want to say his name. Didn't want to understand Deion Sanders' reasoning, either.
"That guy," as the Carolina Panthers cornerback labeled the star New York Giants wide receiver, appears to be just as unwelcome on Norman Island as he was when the two came to a near-brawl in their matchup in December.
This is more than just the continuation of a drama. This is a good sign for the Panthers.
Carolina was a freight train all season, blitzing through its schedule unblemished, except for one game: at Atlanta the week after things got testy between Norman and Beckham in New Jersey. The team won't take any credit away from a division rival, but things weren't quite right on that Sunday in the Georgia Dome, and Norman wasn't quite right, either. Falcons receiver Julio Jones had 178 yards in that game, and Roddy White had 67.
"I didn't get myself right until a couple days after [the Giants game]," Norman said at media night on Monday.
Those days proved a distraction in a season that was largely free of them. And the Panthers played off-key the following week. Norman, who was fined for his part in the melee, offered no excuses. But he suggested maybe "we had to take that 'L' to calm the waters."
If it wasn't for that "L," the Panthers would be walking into Super Bowl 50 with a chance to be considered the greatest team of all time. Only one team has gone undefeated, the 1972 Dolphins, and it's a lot harder to go unbeaten now than it was back then.
"It's one of those things where you look back, and, man, you could be 18-0," said Panthers wide receivers coach Ricky Proehl. "But you look back and maybe it was a good thing."
Maybe it was a good thing for Norman, too. His personality has reemerged – the flair and feistiness – and it was on full display Monday night.
He took his seat at the podium wearing sunglasses, and then took some of the hour's worth of questions wearing a Nacho Libre mask he was given by a Spanish-speaking reporter. He said if he picks off Peyton Manning, one of his childhood heroes, he'll have to "try to contain myself and not get a personal foul I'd be so excited."
When the Beckham situation was gradually broached, Norman was ready: "I don't consider myself a trash-talker," he said. "I consider myself a motivator."
He went on: "Everything is legal within confines of the rules. This is mental warfare. We're not out there picking daisies."
Sanders soon sidled over, as the former stars sometimes do at these events, but it wasn't all love from Norman.
"I really didn't agree with what you had going on with Odell and that whole situation," he told the Hall of Famer, barely making eye contact. "I feel like you took his back on some stuff. Like if he was your son you would have gave him props."
This happened at a Hollywood-style event, with a live band and Miss Universe walking around and a catwalk where players were paraded out to screaming fans. This was a place to make nice and smile for the fans. Norman smiled a lot during his time on stage on Monday, but he showed his teeth, too.
"Man, what you think we got going on," he told Sanders at one point.
Norman isn't like Sanders or Beckham – preordained superstars. He carved his career out of nothing, a walk-on at Coastal Carolina who became a later-round NFL draft pick and then broke out this season after getting into another fracas – with Cam Newton. That's twice in a few months that Norman directly challenged famous players. And three if you include Neon Deion.
"Nothing like being self-made," Norman said Monday. "They can't take anything from you."
Football is a fearless man's game, but Norman is extra fearless. He would not be in this rare air if his older brother, Marrio, didn't convince the Coastal coaches to give Josh a look. He has little to lose by spurning Sanders or sniffing at Beckham. The personal foul he might get for celebrating a Manning pick is a tollbooth on the journey he's paved – a basket to chuck a quarter into as he speeds by.
Norman isn't a wild child, though. He modulates his adrenaline for the sake of the team. He said Monday he asked head coach Ron Rivera to take him out of that Giants game "because I couldn't be in there with that." He's more hot-blooded than cold-blooded, which might be why he reeled after that Giants game, and perhaps part of why the team struggled the next week.
The fact that Norman was in his element on Monday shows he might be his usual self on Sunday. That's crucial considering Denver's quarterback and receivers. Whether you think Norman is a superstar or a product of a superb defensive system, he is the guy quarterbacks avoid – he is the version of the NBA post player who alters shots. The Panthers are certainly Newton's team, but Norman embodies the grit it has taken to get all the way here.
"Ten-year-old me was cutting grass while nobody else was watching," he said Monday, with a trace of emotion in his eyes. By "cutting grass" he meant backpedaling, practicing, readying himself for a chance that almost never came.
Norman's chance has come. He has learned to master the stage he's on. And although he's happy to wear the mask of the pro wrestling heel, the baby face behind it is quite real.
