Redskins cornerback Josh Norman runs with the bulls in Spain

Fans might not like the heart of the offseason, but for the Redskins players, it’s a much-needed rest.

The football season is one of the shortest in all of professional sports, and for good reason. Every Sunday, players are met with non-discriminatory contact. Injuries are an epidemic, not only for the players who miss chunks of the season, but for players who grudge on through the treacherous campaign, with shoulder sprains and lingering concussion symptoms and bodies worn from wear.

No matter what NFL players do with their time off, that time off is well-deserved. Some take the time to rest their aching muscles and bones and indulge in various off-the-field interests. For others, however, their thirst for excitement never runs dry, and so they seek to quench that thirst in different ways.

That’s what Washington Redskins cornerback Josh Norman found himself doing the other day, when he stood on the soft, matted sand of a bull fighting ring across the Atlantic Ocean. Only this time, he wasn’t closing his fist to peanut punch a football from a ball carrier’s grip. And he wasn’t chasing down a receiver, to make a touchdown-saving tackle. This time, he was leaping just outside the reach of a pair of razor-sharp horns.

Spanish bull, meet Dark Knight.

https://twitter.com/espn/status/1149349278638379008

That’s all thirty-three inches of Josh Norman’s vertical. Tack on an extra three or four from adrenaline. The old man’s still got hops. He faced the bull head on, as was his self-proclaimed intention.

It’s a risky endeavor for a veteran cornerback entering a pivotal season; to put oneself at the mercy of a dangerous animal. But Norman’s never been one to shy away from a challenge. Much has been made of his eventual decline, but for now, it looks like the former All-Pro is still firing on all cylinders, from an athletic standpoint.

Had something happened, it’s hard to imagine the Redskins organization would have been very happy about Norman’s offseason trip. Even with nothing happening, they sent out a short summary of Norman’s escapades ripe with a quaint passive-aggressiveness. For anyone pondering any potential contractual repercussions from this event, there won’t be any. It’s the offseason, after all. Let the man live.

And he’s clearly living life to the fullest.