Saquon Barkley says his father, a Jets fan, will wear his Joe Namath jersey on Sunday

A few years ago, Saquon Barkley bought a Joe Namath jersey as a gift for his dad. Alibay Barkley is a big Jets fan — he even has a tattoo of the team’s logo — and he and Saquon often watched Jets games while Saquon was growing up.

On Sunday, when Barkley’s Giants face the Jets, his father plans to wear that jersey.

“That’s hard, right?” Saquon Barkley said. “I knew this situation was going to come up one day . . . It’s going to be a little fun competition in the Barkley house.”

Barkley said he is OK with his father sporting the opposing team’s colors, both on his back and on his arm.

“He’s been a Jets fan his whole life,” Barkley said. “Is he going to root for the Jets? Yes. But he’s going to root for the Giants and his son at the same time. He gets the best of both worlds. Watches the team he grew up rooting for and gets to watch his son live his dream.”

As for his own allegiances, Saquon Barkley said he is true Blue. He acknowledged that the game against the Jets means a lot to the fans, but for the players, he said, it has little significance.

“It matters,” he said, “because it’s the next game on the schedule.”

By Tom Rock

tom.rock@newsday.com@TomRock_Newsday

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.