Josh Norman: 'It's been a long, long season'

[cardiackat88.]

"

Panthers cornerback Josh Norman got his bat back.

Though he cannot take the Panthers' ceremonial Bring The Wood baseball bat onto the field anymore, reports out of Carolina suggest it was nestled inside of his locker on Thursday. Call it symbolism. After his worst game of the season last Sunday against the Falcons, Panthers head coach Ron Rivera sought out Norman for a talk about keeping his edge. Norman was fined and placed under more intense scrutiny after a battle royal with Giants receiver Odell Beckham two weeks ago.

Every game, all season
 
The bat, which reportedly caused Beckham to feel threatened, also had to go.

"Yeah, it's been a long, long season," Norman said, via ESPN.com. "A very long season, the amount of games we've played, everybody giving us their best shot. The media, always something.

"It's been a toll, man."

While Norman said he doesn't plan on curbing his antics, Rivera noted a calmer demeanor out of his lockdown cornerback during the week. He also thought it might not be the worst thing.

But against Tampa Bay this Sunday, Rivera will hope to see the same cornerback he's seen all season. It's difficult for Norman to find an acceptable common ground on the way he plays defense, but unfortunately he doesn't have much more time before the playoffs start. Tampa Bay wideout Mike Evans should be good practice.

If nothing else, Norman has the bat back and will carry it with him in spirit."

Even as a fan, I have found this to be an incredibly long season. I think it was a huge factor in our latest game, having just beat that team 38-0 three weeks ago, I felt like it would be hard to get motivated for that game.

 

Hopefully we wrap up this win Sunday and the guys get a good rest before the playoff game.

link:http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000613446/article/josh-norman-its-been-a-long-long-season

 

[CRA]

Dude needs to find his swag ASAP.  Don't really like Voth mentioning Norman seeming tame again this week.

we have seen him swagless once this year and have seen it in years past....that ain't the Norman we want on the field.  

[pantherj]

I admit that I did want to see Norman calm down for fear of him being ejected for starting a fight, but now I think you roll with the wild man and let the chips fall where they may.

The media trashed our team for 3/4 of the season, so that has made it feel longer as well. We really need that bye week, and CJ needs to wake the hell up and start helping.

[uncfan888]

11 minutes ago, CRA said:

Dude needs to find his swag ASAP.  Don't really like Voth mentioning Norman seeming tame again this week.

we have seen him swagless once this year and have seen it in years past....that ain't the Norman we want on the field.  

Agreed. He needs to get his mind right for the playoffs. We need the norman from earlier this year badly. 

[panthers55]

I don't know that trash talking and losing your cool are necessary to get your swag back. He can tone down the rhetoric and still bring a physical intensity during the game. We have lots of players like Kuechly, Davis and Tillman who can serve as role models. 

 

[Growl]

Rivera concerned me yesterday with how relieved he seemed that this "new" Norman was here. No, Ron, it ain't about making the Shield look good. Its about the Panthers winning football games. Who cares what the public perception of us is?

[OneBadCat]

The Dark Knight Rises

[CRA]

28 minutes ago, panthers55 said:

I don't know that trash talking and losing your cool are necessary to get your swag back. He can tone down the rhetoric and still bring a physical intensity during the game. We have lots of players like Kuechly, Davis and Tillman who can serve as role models. 

 

Luke and TD definitely play with real attitude.   That IMO is the ideal form of it.

as long as Norman plays with attitude I don't care at this point if it is the over the top version

[CRA]

26 minutes ago, Growl said:

Rivera concerned me yesterday with how relieved he seemed that this "new" Norman was here. No, Ron, it ain't about making the Shield look good. Its about the Panthers winning football games. Who cares what the public perception of us is?

Seemed like Ron was trying to positively look at it....but he already said Norman needs to get back to his old mindset  on game day and be himself 

 

i would think the weekly extra attention Norman creates for media could get exhausting to keep up.  Hopefully he finds a nice mix of when and where to bring it

[pantherj]

This makes me think even more that he's going to be tagged.

[jim stone]

Here is a pic I took of the infamous bat.  This fellow here left the game early with a leg fracture but the team did leave the Falcons a big goose egg.  Maybe that scaird Beckman more than the bat or the gay slurs.  I'd hope we see a similar rebound against the bucs this week.

[jim stone]

I actually had a chance to talk to Pick Six Norman after this gave. He is a great fellow just out there having the time of his life. Shook his hand!  

[Castavar]

Should have never took the bat ritual from the team in the first. Who gives a fug what the media would have said, they're going to find something to bitch about the Panthers anyway, might as well do what you want.

[csx]

Yes, the offense scored a season low and Julio Jones caught a jump ball over Kuechly because of no baseball bat during pre game. It's clearly because of that.