Josh Norman gave an interview to ESPN The Magazine this offseason that featured him calling NFL commissioner Roger Goodell “straight horrible” and his feelings about the league don’t seem to have softened since then.
The Redskins cornerback made an appearance with Grant Paulsen and Danny Rouhier of 106.7 The Fan on Thursday and discussed the penalty he got for mimicking a bow-and-arrow shot after an interception in Week Four. Norman said he felt like his conduct has been magnified by the league, noting that others have done similar things in the past without getting a penalty, and scoffing at the league’s explanation that it fell on the wrong side of the rules because it simulated violence.
Norman went on to rip the league as a whole when it comes to the crackdown on the way players celebrate on the field.
“I think we have a double standard as a league,” Norman said. “We say want to be PG or whatever television show we’re showing, but at the same time we’re selling beer on TV shows when kids [are] watching. So it’s kind of like, well dang, if that’s the case and that’s good, why can’t we have fun within the game? I mean it’s a barbaric sport. So if you want to be a double standard, like, c’mon, man. Let’s be realistic here. You want to have things the way you want it, but then again, when it comes to us, we can’t have the things we want. It don’t even make any sense. It’s stupid in a way to a point where ... like, who is running the ship? And why are we allowing things to happen like that that shouldn’t be? That’s kind of how I feel.”
Norman said he would understand the $10,000 fine he received for the bow-and-arrow celebration if it was in the rules before the season, but feels the league is changing things on the fly and that he will “continue to try and fight this thing because it’s just stupid.”