Saquon Barkley vs. Giants: This reunion will have a strange feeling to it
Division games in the NFL are always intense. There is so much at stake in the standings and the teams know each other so intimately. There are deep histories that flow between the franchises that face each other twice a year every year.
Few games have carried the kind of emotional weight that Sunday’s game at MetLife Stadium figures to, though. Because it won’t just be the Giants against the Eagles. It will be Saquon against his past.
Saquon Barkley will play his former team for the first time since signing a lucrative three-year $37.75 million contract with Philadelphia this offseason, the kind of offer he had spent the previous two years hoping to get from the Giants but never did.
While he did his best to try to defuse the tension this week, first by naively suggesting that Giants fans would not boo him upon his return and then by insisting that there are no hard feelings between himself and the organization, the truth is that no one really knows what to expect from this very unique reunion.
Not since Sam Huff was traded from New York to Washington in 1964 has a player at such heights of popularity, prominence and production switched sides in a bitter rivalry and come back to face the Giants. Oh, there have been other Giants fan-favorites over the years who left and came here to play their former team, including Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton and Ring of Honor members Mark Bavaro, Osi Umenyiora, Jessie Armstead and Carl Banks. Super Bowl champ Jeff Hostetler started two games against the Giants at the Meadowlands (he was 1-1). Jeremy Shockey caught a touchdown for the Saints against the Giants in 2009 and when the Jets played the Giants on Christmas Eve in 2011 one of their gameday captains for the coin toss was Plaxico Burress. James Bradberry was a Pro Bowler for the Giants and is now in his third season with the Eagles.
None of them, though, was as much part of the fabric of their Giants teams — the whole organization, really — the way Barkley was during his time in New York. Odell Beckham Jr. might have come the closest, but in 2020, the year after he was traded to the Browns, he was on injured reserve by the time Cleveland faced the Giants in Week 15. He has yet to face the Giants.
Barkley was different. He was drafted as the “Gold Jacket pick” who was “touched by the hand of God” and brought with him a “generational spirit.” The Giants hoped he would define their culture, even as a 21-year-old rookie, and during his six years with them, through health and injury, losing and winning, and three different head coaches, he pretty much did. The NFL stamps every single one of its broadcasts with a rights disclaimer and for the last five years that short video clip ended with an image of Barkley in a Giants uniform.
Now he is the enemy.
“I think he did a lot of good for this organization,” Giants defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence said. “I appreciate what he did for this organization and who he was as a teammate and a person to me, most importantly. But Sunday is war and he knows that.”
Daniel Jones keeps in regular contact with Barkley, but the two haven’t spoken this week.
“It will definitely be a little different seeing him in another uniform,” the quarterback said. “But we're competing this week. It's time to go.”
Barkley may have left the Giants’ roster, but he hasn’t left the lives of many of his former teammates, which makes this matchup all the stranger. This summer after he had already signed with the Eagles he flew down to Tampa to play in a charity golf tournament organized by Florida natives Micah McFadden and Dane Belton.
“He’s a great teammate, a great friend,” McFadden said. “I appreciate the type of guy he is.”
McFadden also appreciates the kind of running back he is.
“He looks explosive,” McFadden said of watching Barkley’s tape in preparation for this game. “He’s testing edges when he can. He’s breaking tackles. He looks like Saquon.”
Just in a different jersey.
Barkley’s post-Giants summer travels also brought him to North Carolina for Lawrence’s wedding in June. The two have a lot of respect for each other. This week Barkley even called Lawrence “the best defensive player in the game.”
Lawrence said he got a chance to tackle Barkley back when Joe Judge ran full-contact practices, but is looking forward to doing it again.
“I know what kind of player he is and his mindset going into games,” he said. “I'm excited to compete against Saquon for a full game, just put my will on him a little bit.”
Lawrence was asked if it will be “fun” to face Barkley on Sunday.
“I think it depends on the tackle,” he said. “If it's a tackle for a loss, then yeah. If he knocks me back a little bit for a couple gains, then no. But I plan on more tackles for losses.”
Assuming he stays healthy (or is not resting for a playoff run) Barkley will face the Giants again in Week 18 on his turf in Philadelphia. Then there will be the twice-a-year meetings the rest of the time he remains an Eagle. By then the oddity of him being on the other team will likely have subsided a bit.
This game being the first, however, brings so many complicated emotions with it.
“He did a lot for this franchise, worked really hard, and was a great leader and teammate in this locker room,” Jones said. “I think that's important to keep in mind. On Sunday, though, it's about that game, it's about that day and playing well, and winning the game.”
Players normally compartmentalize such feelings. Sunday will undoubtedly be a challenge to do that for both the Giants and Barkley himself.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
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