Josh Norman has come in for some criticism by accepting a TV role without consulting his team first. As far as he’s concerned, though, it’s his free time and he can do what he wants with it.
“It’s my off time. I can do whatever I choose,” Norman told ESPN’s Dianna Russini in an interview. “I’m around my horse all the time, nobody says anything about that. Everybody [is] like, ‘Ohh great.'”
Norman believes being a part-time analyst can both set him up for life after football as well as help him now.
“Obviously we know what’s going on in the game,” Norman said. “It’s an easy transition to spit back football to football minds. It made sense to expand my career. … Who knows if that’s something I want to do, but I have the outlet.”
On Monday, Washington coach Jay Gruden said he wasn’t aware of Norman’s TV work, which raised some eyebrows.
“That’s the first … I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Gruden said at the time. “Pregame show for what?”
Norman said that Gruden was made aware of the arrangement.
“He’s cool with it. It’s my off time,” Norman clarified. “We are not even shooting Sundays. Let’s get it together: We are not shooting, we are playing football. This is pre-taped before, obviously; I’ll go to [the] studio once or twice. It’s in my bye week.
“I play football. I’m a football player. I have a job playing football. This is something I do in my off time. It’s cool. I’m appreciative of my team and organization. They obviously knew about it [and] had to sign off on it.”
Norman will make at least ten appearances as part of FOX’s NFL coverage in 2016. As long as it’s not interfering with his on-field responsibilities or prep work, he is well within his rights to do so.
