Josh Norman credits success to having his bologna stolen as a kid

Washington Redskins cornerback Josh Norman is one of the fiercest competitors in the NFL, and in a The Players' Tribune piece published Monday, he links his competitive attitude to having his bologna stolen as a child.

"At home, I had to hide my food. I'd always cook up some eggs, grits and bologna. We usually didn't have enough money for bacon. We only had the po' man's meat. If I left my plate out for a minute, my older brothers would try to steal my damn bologna, and I was too small to stand up for myself."

Norman, who writes he was "skinny and shy," eventually found football and through the sport transformed himself from someone getting picked on to the one doing the picking.

"Then one day, they made a mistake. They messed up," Norman writes. "They let me put on a football helmet. They let me get in the dirt. Now, all of a sudden, the same dudes who used to steal my 'next' were hearing a very particular sound. It's a sick sound, really. I'll never forget the first time I heard it.

"It's the crack of a football helmet obliterating some poor dude's chest protector. Then you hear him wheezing. You see the spirit draining right out of his body."

Norman goes on to outline his underdog story, first missing out on big-time college offers coming out of high school and then getting drafted in the fifth round of the 2012 NFL Draft.

At the end of his piece, Norman makes sure to namecheck Odell Beckham Jr., who he had a vicious feud with when the Carolina Panthers played the New York Giants last season. The root of the notorious chip on his shoulder are on full display.

"But Odell and I, we know the truth. Anybody who makes it to this level knows it. The truth is that on the football field, he's trying to steal my bologna, and I'm trying to steal his.

"See you twice a year, bro."