‘Why I'm the player I am today:' How years of losing shaped Saquon Barkley

‘Why I'm the player I am today:' How years of losing shaped Saquon Barkley originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

He knew all along. He’s always visualized this kind of season. No matter how bad things got with the Giants, he believed it would happen. He knew it would happen.

More than 2,000 rushing yards. A historic postseason run. Every imaginable individual award. A Super Bowl appearance.

Saquon Barkley knew all along.

“I didn’t think it was possible,” Barkley said after practice Thursday. “I kind of knew.”

Which is incredible, because as productive as Barkley was at times with the Giants, nobody in NFL history has ever done what he’s done this year.

Just 30 yards shy of the most combined regular-season and postseason yards in a season. The highest rushing average in NFL history by a back with at least 400 carries. The highest rushing average ever in the postseason. And more than twice as many 60-yard touchdowns as anybody else has ever had in a season.

It may seem impossible for anybody to foresee that kind of success.

Barkley did.

“You gotta envision it, you gotta believe it,” Barkley said after practice Thursday. “And sometimes, it’s funny how things work. Like, you work your butt off, your tail off all offseason, and that only gives you a chance. And did I do anything significantly different in this offseason than I did in others? Not really, to be completely honest. If anything, I probably took a little more time for my body to let my ankle heal and let my knee recover a little bit more from the year prior.

“But it only gives yourself a chance. But every year, no matter what, you have to come up with that mindset because we all have a chance to go out there and accomplish what we want to accomplish. So I believed in it, I envisioned it, I had those conversations with myself. Some guys write it down on notes and put it on their mirrors and stuff like that. I’m more to myself, whether it’s, you know, I’m in a sauna or in that cold tub or on the drives in the morning.

“But it’s a cool feeling when everything that you work for, it’s all right in front of you and the player that I knew I was and the player that I believed I was is finally getting to show.”

To truly understand how special Barkley’s season is to him, you have to understand how bad things were with the Giants.

Six seasons, 37 wins.

The Giants went 37-78 during Barkley’s stint in New York and won more than six games just once. His first four years, they won a total of 18 games. The Eagles have won 17 this year.

He never played with a Pro Bowl quarterback, wide receiver or offensive lineman as a Giant. During his six seasons in New York, the Giants were 11-43 against winning teams. During his one season in Philly, the Eagles are 9-2 vs. winning teams. The Giants never won more than four straight games with Barkley. The Eagles have had streaks of five and 10 consecutive wins this year.

Barkley won one playoff game in six years with the Giants. He won three in a 15-game span as an Eagle. With a chance at a fourth a week from Sunday vs. the Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans.

Signing with the Eagles not only helped carry the Eagles to a miracle season, it gave Barkley his first real taste of success as a pro.

That much losing can be really hard to take.

“It was definitely tough,” he said. “But I think that’s why I’m the player I am today and the reason why I’m having the success I am today.

“Whether it’s losing or the adversities and the injuries that I went through, the reason why I’m able to be at the age I am and after all those injuries, I never gave up, I never lost hope, I always saw this moment coming. I always saw the success coming. At the time I thought I was going to be still in a New York Giant uniform, but life happens for a reason.

“Everything happens and I’m in the right place in the right time where I’m supposed to be. So that’s within anything now, not just in football, not just in the profession that we have. Life is going to throw so many challenges at you, but that’s how you know the type of person you are and the type of man you are in those moments, and I think who I was in those moments are the reason why you’re able to see me shine – quote-unquote – right now.”

Barkley loves setting records and loves winning, but what he really loves about being a Philadelphia Eagle is the team-first mentality of everybody in the locker room and the way everybody sacrifices themselves for the greater good.

There is no greater team player than Barkley, so it’s a perfect fit.

“It’s just the truth: You can’t be great without the greatness of others,” he said. “We play the ultimate team game. That’s why I love this game. And I’ve been playing this game since I was 7 years old. And I wanted to do it since I was a little kid. And the way you win championships, the way you do special stuff, is together.

“I’d be a fool not to realize that. I play running back. You know, you can hand me the ball. I don’t care how great you are. But if I got five guys in the backfield, I’m not Superman. I can’t make all those guys miss.

“And that’s just the reality of it. Guys got to get open. Jalen got to make the throw. A.J. got to make the catch. That’s how the game works. And I think we’ve lost that in today’s world, with how much we all get paid. And you have stats of Tom Brady vs. Peyton Manning, like it’s those two guys going against each other. That’s not the truth. It’s a team sport … and I think a lot of other people need to start realizing that too.”

Barkley is 27 years old now, an age when most running backs are fading.

He’s the first running back 27 or older to get 400 carries in a season since Shaun Alexander in 2005, the oldest running back ever to average 6.0 yards per carry (minimum 300 carries), the oldest player to rush for 400 yards in a postseason since John Riggins in 1982.

Fading? Barkley has been astonishing. In Year 7, after years of disappointments, letdowns, injuries and tons of losing, Barkley may be having the greatest season ever by a running back.

“It’s just a good thing to be in a spot where things are working out how I envisioned it to work out and things are working out what I worked for,” he said.

“And that’s the crazy thing about it. It’s like, yes, this is the year it turned out for me. It took me seven years. … To see all the things that I want to accomplish actually coming alive, there’s definitely a reason why there’s a smile on my face.”

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