Gladiators' Marrio Norman goes pro, won't play Soul in playoffs

           

Marrio Norman as a Georgia Force covering Soul receiver Emery Sammons in 2012

 When the Soul and the Cleveland Gladiators meet up Saturday night for the opening round of the Arena Football playoffs on CBS Sports Network, the Gladiators will be missing the biggest part of their defense that has helped them reach a league record 17 wins this season in defensive back Marrio Norman.

Norman has been picked away from the Gladiators to try out for the Baltimore Ravens training camp. This season, Norman’s brought in 12 interceptions for 115 yards and has put up 78 tackles.

To put things into perspective, the rest of the Cleveland defense combined for just one more interceptions than Norman had (13). Defensive back LaRoche Jackson leads the Gladiators in tackles, with nine more than Norman (87). 

The loss of Norman is devastating to this Cleveland team that has so much potential heading into the playoffs , but it also gives Philadelphia an even better chance at beating the team they match up well with and probably feel they should have owned this regular season.

Norman’s skill and talent on the field was always a danger for opposing quarterbacks against the Gladiators in the 2014 regular season campaign, and his presence displayed leadership on the Cleveland defense all throughout the improbable miracle season they’ve been riding.

Nobody in this league can blame the 27 year old for leaving the Gladiators no matter what time of the AFL season it may be and going to the next level, where his salary in Baltimore training camp will certainly be a pretty hefty raise. Whether or not Norman will be able to keep a spot with the Ravens organization after training camp is another question, but this is no doubt a chance of a lifetime for Norman that he may never see again, and the Gladiators will probably wish him nothing but the best.

The Soul went through a very similar situation two seasons ago when Tiger Jones left right before the playoffs started and joined the Philadelphia Eagles, and the Soul were still able to reach the Arena Bowl.

Philadelphia now has an even better opportunity in front of them to go out and upset the Gladiators in their own arena this weekend while their defense is out of line with gaping holes. The Gladiators are still a very good football team in this league, and Norman didn’t play on their explosive offense that’s carried their team all season. Still , it’s hard to believe that Cleveland would have won 17 games this year if Norman wasn’t in the lineup, and there’s no debating that life has just gotten a lot easier for Dan Raudabaugh and the rest of the Soul offense.