SAQUON

Will Saquon Barkley’s trip down the turnpike lead to a trip to the Super Bowl with the Eagles?

In the aftermath of his first game as a Philadelphia Eagle, running back Saquon Barkley proceeded as if scoring three touchdowns and accounting for 132 total yards was an everyday occurrence, as if he was part of a “cool” experience (his words) and that he didn’t necessarily recognize the insanity of glee being shared by the team’s fans around the world.

“This is a great way to start things off,” Barkley said, smiling, “but it’s just the start. I take everything day by day, I do my part and whatever they want me to do on and off the field, I’m here to do it. Anything to help us win.”

That’s the bottom line, isn’t it? For a player like Barkley, a superstar since grade school, a 5-star recruit leaving high school and landing at Penn State, and then the No. 2 overall selection in the 2018 NFL Draft, it isn’t about the accolades, the attention, the thousands of No. 26 jerseys he is selling in the team’s Pro Shop at Lincoln Financial Field.

The guy just wants to win.

“That’s why I’m here,” Barkley said after the Eagles signed him on the first day of NFL Free Agency back in March. “That’s why I play football. I love the game and, you know, there is nothing like winning football games. I’m not sure people understand how hard it is to do and so I appreciate having a great team around me.

“This football team here, you get into a huddle, and you look around and you see Jalen [Hurts] and A.J. [Brown] and DeVonta [Smith]. Dallas [Goedert]. A great offensive line. It’s like, ‘I’m going to fit in just fine here.’ And that’s the way it has been for me since the first day. It’s all about fitting in and doing my part and winning football games because nothing else really matters to me.”

Of course, other things matter to Barkley, a family man and father of two, a son whose football home is closer to his mother (in Camp Hill, PA), a young man obsessed over the game of golf.

But his answer to how he will “fit in” as an Eagle is one that is true to the way Barkley has always been: This is not an aw-shucks kind of guy just keeping a low profile for the sake of doing so in the NFL. He’s been this way forever – here is an answer he provided during Media Day prior to his sophomore season at Penn State after he ran for more than 1,000 yards and scored seven touchdowns as a freshman there:

“If someone comes to a game with the mindset that they think I’m talented enough that I can take over a game and they want to stop me and they do stop me… but if that opens up Chris Godwin, DaeSean Hamilton, Saeed Blacknall, Trace McSorley and Tommy Stevens, then we just won the game,” Barkley said, who then talked about helping out more on special teams. “I love the idea, I actually went to [head] coach [James] Franklin to see if I can get on special teams a little more because, personally, I just want to try and win games and do whatever I can to win games.”

The similarity in mindset, as you see, is striking. And genuine. And that’s just the way Barkley is.

“He is a humble, down-to-earth kind of guy who works hard and plays football,” Brown said. “From the first day, he was just one of the guys. We know what kind of impact he’s making on our football team, and I think everyone was excited when he signed here. He’s that kind of a difference-maker.

“We have all seen him on the other sidelines and it’s just good that he’s with us. We know how much he can help us.”

That was clear when the Eagles opened the 2024 regular season in São Paulo, Brazil. It was a history-making game – the first time the NFL has staged a game in South America – and it was on a Friday night and it had the feeling of a playoff atmosphere. And everything Barkley has done in his career to date – a two-time Pro Bowl player, the Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2018 – was on display in his Eagles debut.

Barkley ran with power between the tackles and carried defenders on his back. He saw holes created by the offensive line and scooted through them with quickness and purpose. Barkley doesn’t waste motion; he keeps his shoulders down the field to maximize his vision of the defense and he punishes teams when he reaches the second level of the defense. As a running back, there are few in Barkley’s class.

And then as a pass catcher, well, everyone saw it: Jalen Hurts tossed an 18-yard pass to the left side of the formation, toward the corner of the end zone, in the only spot where Barkley could catch it after running a wheel route and Barkley did, indeed, catch it, tippy-tapped his feet down inbounds and scored the team’s first touchdown of the season in the 34-29 victory.

That was the “cool,” reaction from Barkley, who then went on to thank the world for allowing the Eagles to play in Brazil and to participate in such a remarkable environment.

“It was truly special in every way, and it is something you don’t ever forget as a player,” Barkley said. “The atmosphere was amazing. We’re part of history as one of the first teams to play in South America, so I’m proud to be part of that.”

The performance was extraordinary – Barkley became the second Eagle (after wide receiver Terrell Owens in 2004) to score three touchdowns in his debut – so now the obvious question is: What does he do for an encore? Exactly what is fair to expect from Barkley for the rest of this season in an Eagles offense that clearly has a lot of weapons?

“He is a big part of our offense,” head coach Nick Sirianni said. “We’re just exploring the things we can do with Saquon and the way he’s going to impact how a defense plays us. He is such a gifted, all-around player who does everything well, and we want to involve him as much as we can. We have other players who can hurt defenses, too, so that’s a good challenge to have.

“It’s exciting adding a player like that. Then you see him on the field, and you get to know him as a person, and you understand that he just wants to do anything we ask him to do to help win football games. No ego here. Confidence, yes. But the ego is about helping the team. Those are the kinds of players you want.”

It has fully sunken in, hasn’t it? Saquon Barkley is an Eagle. After rooting against him for six seasons when he played for the New York Giants, Barkley is wearing Eagles Green. The entire summer was a “Pinch-me, is-it-real?” feeling for the fans. Not any longer.

They’ve seen what he can do. They know that if Barkley can impact games like this all season, the Eagles are going to be in a very good place.

“There were already a lot of really good pieces here, so it wasn’t like I was coming in here and changing the way the Eagles do things or how they approach the offense,” Barkley said. “I considered a lot of factors when Free Agency started, and the Eagles happened to check off a lot of the boxes I had set out. It’s been everything I hoped for. I love this situation, this team and the way Eagles fans embrace the football team.

“We’re just starting. It is a long, long season. You take it step by step and you just try to keep improving in every way and you understand what the ultimate goal is here. The expectations are extremely high. I love that. I love the competition that comes with the team every week. We’re on to another challenge every day, really. That’s kind of what I’ve always been about.”