Coming off a tumultuous run with the Giants, many had thought that he was going to be a bust with the Eagles. But it took no time for Saquon to prove them wrong. Not only did he take them to a Super Bowl, but he also became the highlight of the NFL the entire season.
He was dominating every week and had fun on the field at the same time. One may even argue that he overshadowed Derrick Henry, in what was supposed to be his best year of his career.
Although Saquon’s season came to fruition at the end after they beat the Chiefs at the Super Bowl, but he also had a chance to beat Eric Dickerson’s regular season record of 2,105 yards, which is considered as one of the toughest records to break.
When the Eagles sat Saquon Barkley in the season finale, though the RB was all in on the thought to ball it out in the playoffs, but his father was not very happy with that. Although the Eagles delivered their promise in the end, a season record could have been a cherry on top for the veteran RB.
Speaking about it on the Got It From My Momma Podcast, Saquon’s mother, Tonya, was happy with how things panned out. She addressed how the Eagles were looking at the bigger picture but at the same time, she also stated that breaking the record would have made his name immortal in the NFL history books.
Saquon’s Mother Breaks Silence on the Eagles Benching Him
Breaking the record would most certainly have been the biggest personal achievement in Saquon’s career, but a Super Bowl win is something that no one wants to miss out on. And the Eagles didn’t want to take that risk by playing their best player rush for over 100 yards in a game that didn’t matter.
Saquon’s mother, Tonya, addressed how a Super Bowl win is written in the stars for Saquon, even though her husband was not very happy with the decision made by the Eagles.
“Well, it wasn’t me, it was his father. He’s like, ‘Come on,’ because that name would have lived on forever, you know. It would have been out there. But they had a bigger fish to fry,” she said.
She accepted that as fate would have it, Saquon’s name would be remembered as a Super Bowl winner. And that is exactly what happened.
“So it’s like, you better win this Super Bowl,” she added. “And I was like, I just knew I said ‘Okay, this didn’t work out for him to break that record, but they’re going to win a Super Bowl,’ I was like ‘It’s written already.'”
Tonya knew that there was something special coming for her kid because she had seen that spark in him since Saquon was just a kid playing Pee-Wee football.
Tonya Calls Out Parents Who Force Their Kids Into Sports
When Saquon was just a young kid, he was very inquisitive and had a drive to find answers to his questions. His determination as a kid was something that led his mother, Tonya, to believe that he was meant to do great things, though not extremely sure that it would be in football.
As Saquon found his way through life, football became his means for greatness, but it wasn’t something that was forced upon him.
“Everybody asks like ‘How was his childhood?'” Tonya said, talking about parents who want to live their lives through their kids.
“He participated in football tremendously, 100% without a doubt, but he also was still a kid… He did the same thing every other kid did.”
Tonya said that Saquon had a normal childhood and that he had his share of fun growing up. She exclaimed that they were never the ones to force their aspirations on their kids to see them earn millions from sports.
“It wasn’t like we was those type of parents that want to live their lives through their kids,” Tonya said. “So when they put them in these sports, it’s 100%, school, home, sports. There’s no time for nothing else. They didn’t get the experience of being a child they didn’t get to do fun things, it was automatically about sports.”
Saquon’s mother was just like any parent, tired of their kids’ mischiefs.
“He played outside with his friends, they played Manhunt. I’m yelling, ‘It’s dark, why wait till it’s dark to want to go play Manhunt?’ They throwing eggs at people’s houses. Just running around playing whatever games they were playing outside. Then he did his kid thing, ding-dong ditch. I’m arguing with parents, and all their friends are ringing our bells and running. He did his kid thing, so I’m glad that he was able to juggle both.”
Saquon Barkley’s Promise Upon Getting Drafted by the Giants
Saquon getting drafted in the NFL was an imminent thing in 2018. Getting picked above Josh Allen by the Giants as a No. 2 pick, he was all set for a historic career in the league. But at the same time, he had to make a promise to his mother.
A promise that he would fulfill four years later. “When he decided that he was going to declare and forgo his fourth year in college. It was like ‘I don’t care what you do, you make sure and you promise me, and then I’ll agree with you that you’re going to get your degree,'” Tonya recalled. “And he’s like, ‘I promise you.'”
Saquon received his degree in Bachelor of Arts in Communications from Penn State in May 2022. He had to take two courses to complete his requirements to graduate.
It was certainly a smart move to build up his resume and his parents were the ones who encouraged him to do that. “Because football’s not forever, and that college degree will hold a lot of weight after football is over,” Tonya said.
But even Saquon getting drafted by the Giants wasn’t the ideal scenario for his father. Alibay Barkley is known to be a die-hard Jets fan and for him to see his son get drafted by a team in the same city was not what he was expecting.
“It would have been a dream if he would have gotten drafted by the Jets, especially for my husband,” Tonya revealed. “So you know he used to be like, ‘I’m not wearing nothing Giants.’ He was adamant about that. Every now and then, he would throw on a jersey from the Giants, but he’s like, ‘I don’t represent the Giants, I represent my son.'”
Nonetheless, Saquon now plays for the Eagles, but even then, Alibay would only don the kelly green jersey to support his son and not the team, even though they just won the Super Bowl.
Tonya Wants Parents To Get As Much Credit As the Wags
NFL players are often seen on the sidelines with their wives and kids before every game. Glorifying wags has long been a culture of the NFL. But Saquon’s mother wants to change that.
Tonya claimed, “We as parents really don’t get recognized. You see more of the glammy girlfriends and glittery wives. They’re there, but majority of the time they weren’t there.”
Filling up the gaps, even the podcast host Jennifer Vickery Smith chimed in by saying that the wags weren’t there in the early stages of the players’ lives when they were simply finding their way through life, but they get to reap the benefits when they are on the verge of becoming successful. And Tonya agreed to it.
“They’re their support system, and it’s like ‘I don’t think they’re the only support system,'” she said. “I spoke to a lot of mothers, and it’s like, ‘Yeah, we haven’t even been on the field.’ And it’s like ‘I don’t think that’s fair.’ We are part of the reason that they are where they are. And for you not to be able to experience that (is unfair).”
However, Tonya said that she was fortunate enough to have experienced a lot of things that other parents don’t. But a part of the reason for that is that “we run Saquon’s Foundation.”
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