Josh Norman won't let release go, says Panthers aren't 'family' enough
The new Redskins cornerback rehashes his issues with Panthers management
By
Will Brinson
•
3 min read
The release of Josh Norman into the free-agency wild was a stunning move by the Panthers, who held his rights for another season under the franchise tag. Carolina will get a compensatory pick from the move but will have a hole in the secondary for 2016.
Norman inked a massive deal with Washington, getting five years and $75 million from the Redskins. But he can't let the Panthers releasing him go. Speaking with Emily Kaplan of TheMMQB.com, Norman talked about his issues with how the Panthers handled his release, lamenting the lack of family values in the decision by GM Dave Gettleman.
"The GM?" Norman says of Gettleman. "He has no ties to me. He didn't bring me in. I had been there five years, busting my tail, giving it everything I had. I was blue-collar to the core. And they talk so much about this being a family deal -- well, dang, you could have at least let me know. You want to be a family, but honestly, is this a family way of doing things?"
First of all, this is absurd. Football -- despite the NFL's silly branding -- isn't family. Football is a business and it's about creating the best team and trying to win a title at just about any cost.
Norman's complaints are married with a quaint quote from the cornerback about how he envisioned his life if he signed a long-term deal with the Panthers.
"I began to envision my life [in Carolina], growing old there," Norman said. "I envisioned being that guy who lived his whole life in the Carolinas, and could positively impact that area."
Just sitting on a rocking chair, gazing out off the porch, watching the kids play in the field and soaking it all in. Come on, dude. Norman wanted to be the highest-paid cornerback in the league -- he believed he was owed that contract and, rightfully, wanted to ensure he maximized his earning potential. Especially considering how long he took to get paid and how little he's made so far for his efforts as an NFL player.
This quote from Norman about life in Carolina is juxtaposed hilariously with his quote about being in Washington:
"Taking in a view like this, you see everything the city has to offer," he says. "The freedom, the power, the glory. I can have it all here."
That's not exactly the same thing as the rocking chair and the porch and do-goodery around the Southern city. Both descriptions are appropriate for Carolina and Washington, respectively, but you can't have it both ways.
The most bizarre factoid from the article? Norman ended up canceling a youth football camp in Charlotte.
A few minutes after the financial call, Norman scrolls through his Instagram and jolts upright. "Oh my goodness, the camp!" he says, referring to a youth football camp his Starz24 foundation had planned to stage this summer in North Carolina.
"Don't worry," Juliano, the publicist, reminds him. "The kids have all been made aware, and everything has been refunded."
"That sucks," Norman says. "I was looking forward to that."
As someone who doesn't actually host football camps, I've got no idea whether or not you could still manage to host a football camp in Charlotte while living in Washington, D.C. But as someone who has traveled from North Carolina to Washington fairly frequently, it's not hard to imagine a situation where Norman could keep the football camp going even after switching teams.
The whole thing just reeks of someone who remains mad about being dumped. Norman will have plenty of opportunities to get back at the Panthers once the season starts without looking petty this offseason.
