Carolina Panthers cornerback Josh Norman is a candidate for Defensive Player of the Year, and he stated his case in front of a national audience on Thanksgiving by shutting down Dez Bryant.
After holding Bryant to just two catches for 26 yards, Norman called out the Pro Bowl receiver and said the Dallas Cowboys “need to get Dez’s $70 mill back.” Apparently Bryant started with Norman in pregame warmups.
“The thing is, the crazy thing about all that is, he started from the first play and after that, it was nothing,” Norman said, per Michael Florek of The Dallas Morning News. “There’s no pact between lions and men between the white lines. None. And if my intensity is all out four quarters and the other opponent is not, that’s not my fault.”
As Florek notes, there was one play where Bryant was seen talking trash to Norman instead of trying to chase down Kurt Coleman after a Tony Romo interception. Norman, who later did Bryant’s trademark “throw up the X” gesture to Cowboys fans, was happy to share what the two players said at that moment.
“Me and him were having choice words, then I pointed at Kurt as he scored and I said, ‘Look at that, now take that back to your huddle and come back again,'” Norman recalled.
In addition to emerging as one of the best cover corners in the league this year, Norman has also mastered the art of trash talking. He took a shot at a certain ESPN reporter several weeks ago, and we doubt this is the last we’ll hear from him.
