The last time Josh Norman and Odell Beckham Jr. were on the same field, the pair racked up multiple personal foul penalties and fought on the turf at MetLife Stadium. Beckham was suspended for a game while Norman was fined.
To say Norman is looking forward to the first meeting between his Washington Redskins and Beckham’s New York Giants this season would be an understatement.
According to Peter Sblendorio of the New York Daily News, Norman responded to Beckham’s comments that insisted the only reason Norman was “relevant” was due to his skirmish with Beckham.
“He’s relevant because of a catch,” Norman said. “But we’re not gonna go there. I’m not into the war of words.”
After completely “going there,” Norman then recited the date of the first meeting between the two teams this season and the chance to face Beckham on the field once again.
“Sept. 25 we’re gonna put that to the test,” he said. “We’re gonna see what that look like.”
Beckham caught six passes for 76 yards and a touchdown in last year’s game against Norman and the Carolina Panthers. His 1,450 receiver yards was fifth-most last year. His 13 touchdowns were tied for fourth-best.
While Beckham is clearly more than just one catch (his one-handed snag as a rookie against Dallas), Norman was clearly relevant before lining up against Beckham as well. But never let the truth get in the way of good smack talk.
Whichever officiating crew draws the duty of working the Redskins-Giants game in Week 3 will likely come in with orders to keep things from getting out of hand after Terry McAulay’s crew lost control of Beckham and Norman last season. All eyes will be on the matchup throughout the game and any transgression from either party could quickly result in action by the officiating crew. The continued verbal shots back-and-forth make that almost inevitable.
