In fact, the Netziv on parshat Eikev and Shlach (i don’t know the passuk in Eikev off hand, but it was the last Emek Davar on Shlach) says the opposite.
The story you are quoting about the Netziv that even he was going to become a shoemaker is a valid point. But if you look at the end of the story, he heard his parents discussing it and he decided that he would become a talmid chacham. And lo and behold he did. So the op is right.