PHILADELPHIA— The framed photos hang on the wall at the far end of the Philadelphia Eagles’ locker room, above the sofa in a space used as a lounge area. The picture on the left is of Saquon Barkley, an action shot from a game against the Commanders. Under the frame, there’s a strip of masking tape inscribed with “THE CHOSEN ONE.” On the right, another Barkley snapshot from a game against the Rams, and under it the tape reads, “OUR SAVIOR.”
An offensive lineman constructed the shrine, somewhat in jest, but also to pay tribute to the greatest season by a running back in Eagles history.
Maybe — arguably, at least — in NFL history.
The best individual season can be debated on any sports talk radio show. Barkley can only boost his credentials with his performance Sunday in the Super Bowl against the Kansas City Chiefs. The numbers are already staggering, starting with his 2,005 yards rushing and his seven (postseason included) touchdown runs of 60-plus yards. He is one of only two players in NFL history with at least 400 yards rushing and five touchdowns in a single postseason.
The other? Terrell Davis.
Barkley is 30 yards shy of breaking the NFL season rushing record, postseason included, set by Davis in 1998 with the Denver Broncos. Barkley has 2,447 yards (442 in the playoffs); Davis had 2,476 yards and led the Broncos to the Super Bowl title.
“The only thing that makes it special,” Barkley said, “is winning a Super Bowl.”
Barkley could be the difference-maker for the Eagles this year after their 38-35 loss to Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs two years ago. Barkley watched some of that game on the plane ride home from Arizona, the site of that Super Bowl, where the former New York Giants star spent several days making various media rounds promoting this and that but certainly not playing.
“That stuff is fun, radio row and all that,” Barkley said. “I like this a little bit better.”
Barkley and the Giants had actually been knocked off that season by the Eagles in the NFC divisional round, the only time in his six seasons in New York he made the playoffs. Barkley might have been more likely to wear a Travis Kelce jersey on the plane ride home than to ever consider cheering Jalen Hurts, A.J. Brown and the rest of the hated NFC East rivals.
“Of course I was rooting against them,” Barkley said. “There was no part of me that wanted them to win.”
Two year later, Barkley is an MVP finalist in his first season with the Eagles following his televised “Hard Knocks” breakup with the Giants.
In the crucial scene, Giants general manager Joe Schoen told Barkley the Giants would not make him an offer, nor stick the franchise tag on the No. 2 pick of the 2018 NFL draft. Rather, the Giants let Barkley test the free-agent market, a move that sent him to the Eagles on a three-year deal for $26 million guaranteed — the richest contract for a running back in franchise history.
Without Barkley, the Giants finished 3-14.
Barkley became the ninth player in NFL history to top 2,000 yards rushing. One of the others, former Tennessee Titans great Chris Johnson, sent him a congratulatory text to welcome him to the club. Johnson, who ran for 2,006 yards in 2009 and had 11 consecutive games with at least 100 yards, said Barkley is just as elite now as he was with with the Giants.
“There’s no difference,” Johnson said. “Saquon’s been Saquon since he’s been in the league. That’s why everyone says the Giants are (jerks) for even letting him go. When he went to the Eagles, everyone knew what he was going to do in that offense. I don’t think no one in the league is surprised by what he’s doing.”
Johnson said had he been in Barkley’s position, he would have pushed harder to play in the regular-season finale and break Eric Dickerson’s rushing record of 2,105 yards, set in 1984 with the Los Angeles Rams. Eagles coach Nick Sirianni decided to rest Barkley and the bulk of the starters in a game with nothing at stake, leaving Barkley 101 yards shy of breaking the record.
Johnson, who topped 1,000 yards rushing six times in his career, conceded he couldn’t knock Barkley’s end result.
“His goal was to get a Super Bowl. You can tell that’s what his whole mindset is on,” he said.
Barkley got there — and now the Chiefs are in his way of winning one.
Barkley, who turns 28 on Super Bowl Sunday, has been a menace in the playoffs — with TD runs of 62, 78 and 60 yards — but now runs up against a Chiefs defense that did not allow any player to reach 90 yards rushing in a game.
“The thing we always talk about is building it, setting it and tracking it,» Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo said. “Building a wall, setting the edge and tracking the hip. You’ve seen the way he cuts back and that’s when he has some of his big runs. Not allowing him — not creating these seams and allowing him to find it — is going to be really important for us.”
Lose track of Barkley and watch out — he can rip off a long one all the way into the end zone, with so many of those Eagles he rooted against two years now redecorating the locker room in his honor.
“It’s crazy to think of how close I am to a lot of these guys when however many months ago I just walked into the building,” Barkley said. “Being familiar with a lot of them, going against them, knowing them through competing, but being able to actually develop relationships and friendships with these guys has been everything.”
