Penn State legend Saquon Barkley put together what had to be one of the greatest team debuts in NFL history in São Paulo, Brazil Friday night.
The new Eagle ran the ball 24 times for 109 yards, scoring two touchdowns on the ground and another with a touchdown reception in Philly’s 34-29 win over Green Bay.
The first touchdown was an 18-yard reception in which Barkley ran a wheel route before catching a pass from Jalen Hurts.
Here’s Penn State great Saquon Barkley’s first TD as an Eagle. pic.twitter.com/rujKVYpVIl
— Joe Smeltzer (@joesmeltzer775) September 7, 2024
The next one was an 11 yard rush, and the third one was a simple two-yard finisher. For Eagles fans, many of which also root for Penn State, this is what they had been wanting to see since Barkley signed in March.
Didn’t take Saquon long to get his second Eagles touchdown. pic.twitter.com/tXLueSNPR7
— Joe Smeltzer (@joesmeltzer775) September 7, 2024
Saquon now has the hat trick. pic.twitter.com/baeWYNlZQ2
— Joe Smeltzer (@joesmeltzer775) September 7, 2024
Barkley’s time with the New York Football Giants ended after six seasons.
When Saquon Barkley was healthy, he showed himself to be one of the league’s top running backs. That was evidenced by his winning Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2018 and eclipsing 1,000 yards three times. He also produced solid work as a pass-catcher (721 receiving yards as a rookie.) But Barkley hasn’t always been healthy. He missed almost the entire 2020 season with a torn ACL and it took two years for him to return to pre-injury form. The Giants would have loved to keep the 27-year-old in the fold, but GM Joe Schoen and co. knew it might not play out that way.
“He’s a captain,” Schoen said at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis. “He’s a leader. He’s a hard worker. I think the world of Saquon, and I still think he can play. So my value for Saquon really hasn’t changed (over the past year) and unfortunately, throughout the process starting back in November 2022, we weren’t able to come to an agreement in terms of where we were. I thought a deal made sense. So we’ll circle back again. He has a new agent, Ed Berry, who we have a really good relationship with.”
Berry now represents one of the Eagles’ best players.
