Josh Norman is arguably one of the best cornerbacks in the National Football League (NFL). Before signing a five-year contract with the Washington Redskins, Josh began his professional career with the Carolina Panthers, who selected him in the fifth round of the 2012 NFL Draft.

He also played college football at the Carolina Coast and participated in the 26th Dancing with the Stars Celebrity Series where he finished as a runner-up.

Josh Norman’s Biography

Josh was born in Greenwood, Carolina on the 15th of December 1987 as Joshua Ricardo Norman. He attended Greenwood High School where he started playing American football. Josh was part of the school team that won the South Carolina State Championship in 2006.

He was also named All-State Football Player, and was among the few who were chosen to participate in the North-South All-Star Game. To further bolster his skills, Josh Norman was named an Offensive in the All-Lakeland region of Region 4A. Apart from football, Josh also participated in other games like baseball, basketball and track events during his time at Greenwood High School.

Despite his stellar high school career, Josh didn’t receive any scholarship offers from Division I schools, so he moved in after high school with his brother Marrio Norman. In order to improve while waiting for the right opportunity, he started taking classes at Horry Georgetown Tech and in 2008 he was offered a spot on the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers football team.

As a freshman, he appeared in twelve games and started seven. His first start was in the game against North Carolina A&T, where he also recorded his first interception. He would later register twenty-six solo tackles and thirty-five total tackles to rank 9th in team tackles. Josh would later record nine defenses to two assists and two interceptions and be ranked Deep South.

His seven tackles, one interception and one assist performance in defense also earned him Southern Freshman of the Week honors. For his sophomore year, Coastal Carolina offered him a scholarship for his good works thus far and he did not disappoint. The Associated Press named him a third-team All-American, he also won a first-team All-Big South and is now on the Native Americans’ “Fabulous Fifty” team roster.

It was also during his Sophomore season that he broke the school record and was ranked No. 2 in the nation with 8 steals. He also ranked 3rd in steals per game with 0.73. Josh went on to win Big South Defensive Player of the Week, as well as National Defensive Player of the Week.

In his junior season, he recorded fifty-six tackles and was ranked 5th on the team and third in the Deep South with nine defensive defenses. Josh was finishing his college career with eleven career interceptions and passing severances with 23 severances to become the second to record such records in school history.

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NFL Career

Norman was selected 143rd overall by CarolinaThe Panthers in the fifth round of the 2012 NFL Draft became the 3rd player from Carolina to be selected, after Tyler Thigpen, selected in 2007, and Jerome Simpson, selected the year following (2008).

During his rookie season, he appeared in sixteen games, started twelve, and recorded his first career interception in a game against Chicago Bears. Josh would finish his rookie season with seventy-three tackles, seven passes defended and one interception.

He didn’t have a very impressive second season. Although the Panthers established themselves as the second best defense in the NFL that season, after finishing 1st in the championship with 60 points, second in points per game and third in DVOA defense, Josh Norman only appeared in 7 games and was inactive.

In 2015, he was named first-team All-Pro for the season and ranked eleventh on the NFL’s Top 100 Players of 2016. In April 2016, the franchise revoked its trademark on Norman after both parties failed to reach to an agreement on a long-term contract. Following the move, Josh became an unrestricted free agent, and that same month signed a five-year contract with the Washington Redskins worth $75 million.

With his final contract, Norman became the highest paid cornerback in NFL history at the time, surpassing Darrelle Revis’ $36 million contract with the New York Jets in 2015. He started every game that season and finished the season with sixty-seven tackles, nineteen assists, three interceptions, and 2 forced fumbles.

At the end of the season, he was named the 59th best player in the Top 100 NFL Players of the Year (2017). During a game against the Kansas City Chiefs, Norman suffered an injury which kept him out of the game for the rest of the season.

Who is Josh Norman’s girlfriend?

Josh is unmarried but had a relationship with Keisha Thomas. The duo reportedly started in 2012 and have a child together.

In 2018, Blast.com reported that Josh Norman was involved in a legal fight with a certain Melody Woods whom he claimed to have had an informal relationship with which led to her becoming pregnant and giving birth to a baby named Blake in January 2018. According to Josh, a DNA test confirms he is the father and is seeking custody and visitation.

Height and width

The Washington Redskins star cornerback stands at a height of 1.83m and weighs 91kg.