Washington cornerback Josh Norman opened up on several topics to ESPN.com'sKevin Van Valkenburg, including his thoughts on NFLCommissionerRoger Goodell, his new team's controversial nickname and more. He certainly didn't hold back when talking about Goodell."Horrible. He's straight horrible,"Norman, 28, said of thecommissioner.Other prominent figures didn't escape the wrath of Norman."[The NFL] is a dictatorship, and [NFLPA director] DeMaurice [Smith] is in cahoots with those guys," Norman added.As for Washington's nickname, the Redskinsamonikerthat many consider a racial slur and is defined as "dated or offensive" by the Oxford DictionaryNorman finds no fault."Redskins is not offensive to me," he said. "I'm part Native American on both my mom's and my dad's side. It's kind of a funny thing, though. A redskin playing for the Redskins."Norman also spoke at length about his now-infamous battle with New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. when the teams faced off last season. The two regularly fought after the snap on several occasions and have continued to snipe at each other through social media and the press.PerVan Valkenburg, Norman has no regrets about his role in the incident. And he essentially issued Beckham a warning: Watch your back.Everybody saw what he was. People from around the league were coming up to me afterward and saying, "He does that crap all the time." He lost so much respect from people for that little tantrum. I've already got a couple people telling me, "OK, I've got a hit out on him." It's going to be rough for him this year. And he brought it on himselfHe's skilled and talented. I won't take that away from him. But he's never been through any adversity in his life. It's like, when are you ever going to grow up'As for his old team, the Carolina Panthers, Norman admitted that the organization's decision not to re-sign him and to rescind his franchise tag stung. The team never really gave him a reason for not wanting to keep him. But he also felt the organization held him down in some ways."They kind of shunned me," he said. "They turned down a lot of stuff for me, interviews, sponsorship deals, stuff I didn't even know about. They wanted it to be about the two main guys, Cam [Newton] and Luke [Kuechly]."That isn't the case in Washington."I just feel like I can grow," he noted. "In Washington, it feels like everybody can say whatever they want. It's a free-flowing kind of place. It's like going from a dictatorship to freedom."Certainly, Norman has the chance to prove the Panthers wrong for letting him go. He was arguably football's best cornerback in 2015, and Pro Football Focus named him the 11th-best player in the league last season. Only Tyrann Mathieu (10th) was higher among defensive backs.But if you ask Norman, there's no question as to who is the best."I'm the best cornerback on Earth."You can follow TimothyRapponTwitter.
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