Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley had a 2024 season for the ages. He was named the Offensive Player of the Year, becoming the first player in team’s history to receive the award.
In his first year as an Eagle, Barkley became just the ninth player in NFL history to surpass 2,000 rushing yards in a single season, setting the franchise record in the process. His 2,005 rushing yards were the eighth most in a regular season in NFL history.
Barkley also led the league with a franchise-record 2,283 yards from scrimmage, which was a league-high 34.8 percent of the team’s output, while adding 15 total touchdowns. His offensive power helped the Philadelphia Eagles get to Super Bowl LIX and win their second championship in franchise history.
Saquon is really bad at basketball
For all of his accomplishments in the football field, Saquon Barkley‘s skills are below average when it comes to the basketball court. His former White-hall High School basketball coach, Jeff Jones, the school’s athletic director, Bob Hartman, and even Penn State football coach James Franklin have remarked over the years about Barkley’s brief career with the Whitehall Zephyrs.
The notes range from “glue guy” to “not a skilled guy” to describing his free-throw shooting as “horrendous.” And Barkley certainly did not put that criticism to rest with one of his latest displays of basketball skills during a friendly game against one of this teammates.
Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown posted a video of Barkley going at it with a teammate in a basketball court, and the images showed why Saquon stuck to football, which ended up working big time for him and his professional career.
Barkley tries to make a shot but he air balls his attempt, which causes Brown to laugh hard at the running back’s poor shooting. When Saquon tries to defend his opponent, the rival gets past him with ease and the football player can’t do nothing about it.
Saquon gets praise from his teammates
Although Saquon Barkley’s basketball skills are below average, his football IQ is unquestionable and it’s something that his Philadelphia Eagles‘ teammates recognize and praise. If the Pennsylvania team wants to run it back, they will need every rushing yard Barkley can get.
“He’s unbelievable. He continues to get better. He continues to show up. Just to see those and he continues to surprise me like he’s surprised everybody else. I didn’t know he could do that. He continues to get better,” A.J. Brown said.
“Saquon’s been incredible ever since we signed him. As great as a football player he is, he’s an even better person. It feels like I’ve been playing my entire career with him, just because that’s how close he is, how close of a teammate he is, and then what he does on the field, it’s nice to see it on this side rather than when I was on the other side when I was playing against him twice a year,” Dallas Goedert said.
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