Barkley, Sanders Eagerly Await Yearly Showdowns
Long before hearing his name called as the Philadelphia Eagles’ second-round selection in this year’s NFL Draft, Miles Sanders was offered some words of advice by a close friend.
That friend, a former teammate and the reigning NFL Rookie of the Year, was New York Giants’ running back Saquon Barkley.
Going through the process himself, that which includes becoming a full-time, no-nonsense professional fighting for success at the game’s highest level, Barkley stressed the importance of maintaining what’d gotten him there in the first place.
“When you come in, don't lose your work ethic, don't lose your drive,” Barkley said he told Sanders. “It does become a business, but you don't have to become part of the business. And at the end of the day, if you still have that same love that you had as a kid when you were playing at eight years old… everything will take care of itself. That's something I'm a big believer in and that's the message I gave to him.”
Back on Penn State’s campus this weekend as the title instructor of a football camp for first-through-eighth graders, Barkley at once looked the part of his newfound NFL fame while maintaining the down-to-earth demeanor he’s kept since before his arrival as a Nittany Lion.
Sanders, meanwhile, spent the weekend in Los Angeles at the NFLPA Rookie Premiere, an event Barkley participated in himself as one of the league’s fresh new stars just a year earlier.
The subject of a deluge of photos in his new Eagles uniform, Sanders’ appearance and ultimate NFL landing spot was something Barkley and others understood to be a possibility even before Philadelphia made its No. 53 overall selection this spring.
Recalling a conversation he’d had with Sanders at Penn State’s Pro Day in March, Barkley said that his former teammate already had a hunch that the Eagles might come calling. And, maybe more important, the two former teammates and friends might have little choice but to line up against each other at least twice a season as NFC East division rivals.
“When I came here for the Pro Day, we all got together and Miles came up to me. I was like, who likes you? He said, ‘I think the Eagles are going to take me.’ We kind of just looked at each other and smiled,” said Barkley. “I said I want smoke, he said he wants smoke, and I said I guess we'll see each other two times a year.
“When he got drafted, I called him FaceTime and said the same thing. I said I'm ready for you and he said he's ready for me. So it's awesome to be able to go and play against him two times a year.”
Once just a far-off goal, that dream is now getting closer and closer to becoming a reality.
Given the path that Sanders had to take to get there, a story Barkley understands well considering his own influence over his former teammates’ playing time as a true freshman and sophomore with the Nittany Lions, it’s a success for which Barkley said he’s especially proud.
“I’m more happy just with what he's accomplished with what he's been through coming here, being a five-star and have to sit back and kind of wait for your spot and your moment. And when he got his moment, he took advantage of it,” said Barkley. “And now for him to be the second running back taken in the draft and in my opinion, I think the best running back in the draft, I think he's going to prove that to the league this year.
“I’m very excited for him, but at the end of the day, we still got love, but when we see each other those two times, we're going to try to compete and I'm going to try to be better than him and he's going to try to have a better game than me. Ultimately, hopefully, my team ends up winning and he’s going to want the same for his.”