Josh Norman isn’t alone in wanting to inflict pain on Odell Beckham Jr. this season.
Norman revealed to ESPN’s Kevin Van Valkenburg that several NFL players sided with him in the aftermath of the high-profile, on-field battle with Beckham late in the 2015 season. Norman changed teams during the offseason, but the bad blood between him and Beckham almost certainly will carry into the 2016 season — one in which they’re expected to face off twice.
Furthermore, Norman says other players will target the New York Giants receiver for punishment.
“Everybody saw what he was,” Norman said of Beckham. “People from around the league were coming up to me afterward and saying, ‘He does that crap all the time.’ He lost so much respect from people for that little tantrum. I’ve already got a couple people telling me, ‘OK, I’ve got a hit out on him.’ It’s going to be rough for him this year. And he brought it on himself.
“He’s skilled and talented. I won’t take that away from him. But he’s never been through any adversity in his life. It’s like, when are you ever going to grow up?”
In April, Norman joined the Washington Redskins from the Carolina Panthers, bringing his talents and personal feud with Beckham into the cauldron that is the NFC East.
The war of words isn’t one-sided, either. Beckham in July told GQ Magazine that last season’s altercation made Norman “relevant.”
Washington and New York will meet on Sept. 25 and Jan. 1.
Beckham can expect the rough stuff on those dates and plenty of others, if Norman is to be believed.
Thumbnail photo via Dale Zanine/USA TODAY Sports Images
