Josh Norman’s PSG Training Session Exposed the Wide Gulf Between NFL and World Class Soccer

One of the enduring debates around the World Cup is whether elite American athletes from other sports could hold their own on the biggest stage in soccer. The question resurfaced after the USA’s round-of-16 exit, with many suggesting the country’s top talent gravitates toward the NFL, NBA, and MLB rather than soccer. But an anecdote from former sports media writer Kevin Van Valkenburg offers a reality check — and it involves a former NFL star who actually trained with Paris Saint-Germain. Van Valkenburg recalled the time Washington Redskins cornerback Josh Norman, widely regarded as one of the best at his position in the NFL, was invited by Zlatan Ibrahimović to watch a PSG game and then join the team for a training session. Norman had played soccer as a kid and was a huge fan of the sport, so he wasn’t a complete novice. Still, the gap was staggering. “It was comical how much the PSG guys had to slow things down to make it fun for him,” Van Valkenburg wrote on X. “It was like the scene in Friday Night Lights where the Panthers goof around and pretend to tackle little kids. That’s how elementary they had to make it. They tried to feed Josh to ‘score’ a goal, and it was almost condescending how much they had to pretend it was real soccer.” But the reverse was equally true. Van Valkenburg spent 15 minutes throwing an American football to PSG players. David Luiz tried to catch it — and the ball “exploded” off his hands. The takeaway, according to Van Valkenburg: skills from one sport do not translate to the other. “You would need to live it from a young age,” he said, dismissing the idea that simply plugging in great athletes would make them world-class soccer players. Meanwhile, the conversation goes both ways. England striker Harry Kane has openly said he wants to try his hand at NFL kicking after his soccer career ends. He believes his experience handling pressure in soccer could give him an edge. And there is a precedent: Brandon Aubrey, a first-round pick in the 2017 MLS SuperDraft by Toronto FC, spent two seasons in the USL before switching to American football in 2022. He is now the highest-paid kicker in the NFL, on a four-year, $28 million contract. Kane may have hope, but for now, the gulf between the two sports remains enormous.