For the past two seasons, wide receiver Brandon Marshall has been an analyst on Showtime’s Inside the NFL while being an active player. Now Marshall has apparently started something. Washington cornerback Josh Norman will join Fox this season to be part of its NFL coverage. According to SI’s MMQB, Norman will contribute to Fox and make his debut on the season premiere of Fox NFL Kickoff on September 11 at 11 a.m. ET.
Telling MMQB’s Emily Kaplan that while he had yet to inform his coaches, Norman said the Fox gig won’t prevent him from fulfilling his team’s duties:
“I haven’t told Coach [Jay] Gruden or [defensive coordinator Joe] Barry yet, but I’ll give them a nice shout out on TV,” Norman says. “It’s not at all going to be a distraction. If you keep your focus on you and not anybody else, you’re going to be fine. I’m going to be me on Sunday.”Our No. 1 priority in this relationship is to make sure we do not get in the way of anything on the field, this is completely secondary,” says John Entz, Fox Sports president of production and executive producer. “If there is ever a time where he feels this is something that gets in the way of his focus, then we completely understand that and we will respect that. If he ever came to us, and said, ‘I need a break,’ that’s something we would be comfortable allowing.”
Unlike Marshall who tapes his Showtime appearances during the week and not on game days, the arrangement for Norman could include appearing on Fox on the days he’s playing and appearing in-studio when Washington is on a bye week. MMQB says Norman will be seen in pre-taped segments, live from the stadium and from his home.
Fox acknowledges this is a unique situation and promises it won’t distract Norman from his main duties:
“Our No. 1 priority in this relationship is to make sure we do not get in the way of anything on the field, this is completely secondary,” says John Entz, Fox Sports president of production and executive producer. “If there is ever a time where he feels this is something that gets in the way of his focus, then we completely understand that and we will respect that. If he ever came to us, and said, ‘I need a break,’ that’s something we would be comfortable allowing.”
This is will Norman’s first formal foray into broadcasting. After the Super Bowl, Norman talked with Fox about joining the network and after moving from the Carolina Panthers to DC, the move officially went into handshake mode.
Fox has looked into hiring currrent players before. Michael Strahan who is on Fox NFL Sunday now did some guest appearances with the network while he was with the New York Giants, but nothing like Norman will do.
While Norman says this won’t be a distraction, we’ll see how the team feels about it and how welcoming they’ll be to the idea.
UPDATE: Apparently coach Jay Gruden had no idea about Norman’s Fox gig. When asked by reporters at Redskins training camp, he gave this reaction:
Jay Gruden on Josh Norman's new gig with Fox: "I have no idea what you're talking about. Pre-game show for what? Great to know."
— Dan Steinberg (@dcsportsbog) August 8, 2016
This is going to be quite interesting when Norman has to excuse himself during a pregame meeting for a hit for Fox. “Excuse me, coach? Fox is calling me for an appearance on Fox NFL Kickoff.”
“What?”
We’ll see where this is going to lead.
[MMQB]
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