Josh Norman is expecting big things from Aaron Rodgers when the Washington Redskins take on the Green Bay Packers this weekend. Magic things, even.
During a conference call with reporters on Wednesday, Norman had very high praise for Rodgers. Fans of “Lord of the Rings” can appreciate the compliments the All-Pro corner dished out even more.
“That is pretty much Gandalf the White over there,” Norman said of Rodgers, via Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com. “That’s a wizard. That’s who he is, to me. Tom Brady is Gandalf the Grey and he’s just an upper class of that. For me, that’s the best of the best, man.
“I think a ‘wizard’ pretty much describes everything there is to know about the type of quarterback [Rodgers is]. … That’s him and Tom Brady. Of course, you have others. Yeah, I mean, that’s the crème of the crème.”
I’m no “Lord of the Rings” buff (I know, I know), but Rodgers certainly is. He seems to know all about the J.R.R. Tolkien books and movies, and he was flattered by Norman’s comparison.
“I love it, man. He’s one of my favorite characters. I appreciate the comparison,” Rodgers said. “Gandalf kind of fell into oblivion and then he came back and he’s the White. He’s a lot more powerful as the White. I don’t really have any gray in the beard yet but I’ll take any compliment from Josh like that, especially a ‘Lord of the Rings’ one. He didn’t say Gimli so I felt pretty good about that.”
But back to football. The Packers are coming off an embarrassing 47-25 loss to the Tennessee Titans and are now 4-5 on the season. They look as lost as they have ever been, and their playoff hopes are slipping away. Norman isn’t reading into any of that.
“What I’m concerned about is facing a cerebral quarterback that can light you up at any time,” he said. “Yeah, I’m sure they’re going to come in hungry. They took a pretty bad beating last week, they really did. I don’t feel like they’re going to come in here and lay this thing down. They’re going to come out here fiery hot.”
The recent comments Rodgers made about his teammates prove he is at least slightly concerned about where the Packers are headed. Norman would never admit it, but the Redskins are in a great spot facing a reeling team at home in primetime.
