Josh Norman is a man on a mission.
As the Washington Redskins’ star defensive cornerback, he’s
out to have his greatest season ever as an integral part of the
team’s revamped defense. Following a disappointing 2016,
when back-to-back losses in the last two regular-season games
kept Norman and his new teammates out of the playoffs, the
Redskins have made key changes — like firing their entire
defensive coaching staff — and have ambitious plans to win the
NFC East and storm on to Super Bowl LII.
Norman began his NFL career with the Carolina Panthers in
2012, and went all the way to the big show with them in a losing
effort against the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl 50. It was
after that loss that Norman moved to the Redskins, signing
a lucrative free-agent deal in April. It’s a different jersey, a
different head coach and a different group of teammates, but
he’s determined to return to the top with his new team —
doing it the same way that has gotten him this far.
2017 STARZ24 Forum Hosted by Josh Norman
Photo: Jon Strayhorn
“There’s nothing by chance,” Norman told The Bleacher Report
in a wide-ranging interview with Tyler Dunne in May 2017. “I
don’t get this way by just showing up Sundays. The work I put in
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, all the way up
to the game, is why we are what you see on the field. Drilling,
drilling, drilling. Technique, technique, technique.”
Working extra hard to get to the top is nothing new for the
charismatic 29-year-old football star. He wasn’t always the elite
athlete he is today. Despite being a standout on his high school
team, the South Carolina native didn’t get a single Division I
collegiate scholarship offer. But that didn’t stop him. Norman
followed his older brother, Marrio, to Coastal Carolina University,
where Marrio was on a full football scholarship (and still plays
professionally in the Arena Football League). After a year of
working out with him, Norman was offered a position on the
Coastal Carolina football team as a walk-on — but no scholarship.
He jumped at the chance.
That scholarship finally came in his sophomore year, as Norman
started coming into his own as a player, winning third team
All-American and first team All-Big South honors and even
more accolades throughout the rest of his collegiate career.
Despite all that, Norman wasn’t exactly a shoo-in to the National
Football League. In the 2012 draft, the 24-year-old with a B.A.
in Communications and Dramatic Arts found himself the 143rd
overall pick, going to the Carolina Panthers.
2017 STARZ24 Forum Hosted by Josh Norman
Photo: Jon Strayhorn
And it still wasn’t a cakewalk for this cornerback whose @J_No24
Twitter page prominently features the quote “Embrace the
struggle! Only from there will you realize and become a true
champion.” His first two years with the Panthers were rocky —
he won a starting position, lost it for half the season, and then
fought back to starter. It was only in 2015 that Norman cemented
his reputation as one of the top players in the NFL. Following an
exemplary season, he was named a first-team All-Pro and ranked
11th on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2016, an honor voted on by the
league’s players themselves.
Josh Norman
Photo: Washington Redskins
AUTUMN 2017
5 FLYWASHINGTON.COM