Saquon Barkley's viral moment draws a rare Barry Sanders response
Barry Sanders addresses Saquon Barkley's viral comments about early retirement.
There may be no better compliment that can be given to a professional athlete than knowing one's idols are also fans of theirs. Imagine suiting up for a Philadelphia Eagles game on Sunday and dominating. Imagine seeing a guy whose poster you once owned offering congratulations.
Saquon Barkley is a student of the game, one who appreciates its history. At some point, he studied the legends like Walter Payton and Jim Brown. Last season, while in pursuit of Eric Dickerson's single-season rushing record, he learned the Hall-of-Famer was a fan (even if he didn't want to see his record broken). Just this week, he learned of another, Barry Sanders.
Barry Sanders offers Saquon Barkley some advice on post-retirement theory
It wasn't necessarily the shot heard 'round the world or an internet breaker, but it was close. Saquon Barkley recently appeared on an episode of Green Light with Chris Long. Thoughts about early retirement were mentioned. As you can imagine, that caused quite a stir.
Eventually, he'd speak with the media and did his best to ease the minds of a concerned Eagles fan base. Long story short, despite stating his eventual announcement might come as a "surprise", it appears he has no intention of calling it a career soon.
An entire fan base wiped the sweat from its brow. Whew! That was close, but they've been watching his every move just in case. Enter Barry Sanders. Like Barkley, he sat for an interview of his own. As you might imagine, while speaking with CBS Sports' John Breech, the Barkley comments were revisited, and the 2004 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee offered some advice for the most recent entrant into the NFL's 2000-yard club.
"(Saquon Barkley) should stick around for a little while. As a fan, I'm enjoying watching him play. I still see him as still being very young. I'm excited with what he's been able to do in Philadelphia, and really, just his journey. He was written off by the Giants, and to see the kind of year he had last year, I know he still has a lot of great years left in him."
Raise those hands if you're hoping that Saquon is reading the same stuff we are. Barkley had previously mentioned Sanders' decision to retire unexpectedly while speaking with Chris Long.
"Sometimes, players feel that (way), and once they get into camp and into the season, they feel different. Philadelphia feels like a great place, a great home for him, so hopefully it's just sort of a temporary thing that he's experiencing, that he'll continue to enjoy the success there with that great team that they've assembled."
Barkley signed a three-year, $37.75 million deal with Philadelphia on March 13, 2024. He inked a two-year $41.2 million extension this past March, so if the math is correct (and he's interested), we're guaranteed four more years of this marriage.
Frankly, no one wants to see this arrangement end anytime soon. This is too much fun. Listen to the G.O.A.T. Saquon! There's no reason to walk away from this prematurely.
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