'His impact is measured by who he is': What is Saquon Barkley's legacy with the NY Giants?

EAST RUTHERFORD - Sterling Shepard has been a teammate of Saquon Barkley for six years, the entire time the latter has been with the New York Giants.

Many have come and gone, players and coaches and team executives, but their friendship has been strengthened over time.

No one knows Barkley better than Shepard in the building over at 1925 Giants Drive, so when the topic of legacy was being discussed in the locker room Wednesday afternoon, admittedly for both players in different stages of their careers, there was one story about Barkley that Shepard felt the need to share.

"We were training together in the offseason in Los Angeles a few years back, me and Saquon, we got back to the house after a long day of working out," Shepard recalled for NorthJersey.com. "Someone we knew showed up and says to us, 'Hey, could you guys come and help us out, maybe next week at a community shelter for the homeless?'

"Saquon looks up and goes, 'What about right now?' and I kid you not, off we went. His impact is measured by who he is, and that'll go a lot deeper and have a lot more meaning on the people he meets than what he does as a great football player. And I don't think he's anywhere close to being done."

At 26, Barkley is again at a career crossroads. For the second consecutive year, he will play a season finale with his contract set to expire, meaning his future, both immediate and long-term, is uncertain.

This could be Barkley's last game with the Giants on Sunday afternoon against the Eagles at MetLife Stadium - he knows it and the team knows it. Few really want to talk about the possibility, but the home crowd needs to embrace that reality as well, even if Barkley's dream to be a Giant for life eventually comes true.

"I didn't think in six years, I’d only be in the playoffs one time, or I would have torn my ACL in my third year," Barkley said. "I went through a lot of adversity, and I feel like that I never folded. I feel like every time I got knocked down, I got back up and kept fighting, and that’s going to continue to be my mindset. I think that what I want to be, I've said it openly and honestly, I want to be one of the best running backs to ever play. I want to be one of the best running backs to ever play here. All that’s still out there for me. That's how I truly feel. So, that's the mindset I'm going to continue to have."

Shepard was candid about his situation with Sunday's finale likely representing the last for the longest-tenured Giant wearing the only uniform he has worn, with the acknowledgement that retirement from the NFL could be on the table following heart-to-heart conversations with family after the season.

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But for Barkley, there were questions about the business side of things, lessons he may have learned in negotiations with team brass last offseason in a contract standoff over the value of running backs and where Barkley fits as general manager Joe Schoen continues his rebuild of the roster.

It's unlikely much has changed from that perspective with Barkley a year older and the Giants falling way short of expectations one season after winning a playoff game on the road in the first postseason trip in his career.

"Obviously, that's a possibility. A lot of that's out of my control," Barkley said in response to whether this could be his last game as a Giant. "So, for me, I kind of just try to keep the main thing the main thing."

Cherish the moments, Barkley promised, and finish on a high note in what has been a disappointing second season. As Shepard said, to truly appreciate what Barkley has meant to the organization, you have to go beyond the 5,165 career rushing yards and 33 total touchdowns, not to mention the No. 26 jerseys that'll fill the stadium Sunday.

There is a reason Barkley has been the Giants' nominee for the NFL's Walter Payton Man of the Year award, honoring a player's commitment to philanthropy and community impact, as well as his excellence on the field. He means that much for all those who cross paths with the two-time Pro Bowler.

That does not mean the Giants should blindly pay Barkley for what he does off the field. This is a game that brushes sentimentality aside the way Lawrence Taylor once did left tackles trying to block him.

The business of the NFL demands that reaction.

Yet to completely ignore who Barkley is in the community and all the efforts he has made - what we know and, as Shepard indicated, so much we don't - portrays just part of a man dedicated to a legacy of his own.

Barkley remembers how, when he was a child, his family was forced out of their home and the tough times that followed. He talks openly about how his parents leaned on others to get them through, and has never forgotten how much that meant in a time of need.

Barkley has hosted three young adults from Covenant House - a charity that supports young adults experiencing homelessness - and three youths from Children of Promise - an organization that supports children who experience parental incarceration - at every home game at MetLife Stadium.

In his five years as chairman of Covenant House's Sleep Out, Barkley has helped raise over $7 million to support young adults experiencing homelessness and survivors of human trafficking.

Barkley was honored as an NFLPA Community MVP for his work with the homeless near his hometown of Coplay, Pa. earlier this season

"Keep it real and authentic," Barkley told NorthJersey.com recently of his community efforts. "And I feel like the way I operate, the kids and the organizations that I work with, and the people I interact with, I feel like they can feel that. I know that one day, when I stop playing, it's going to matter to a lot of people that I did what I did for others. Not for cameras or for attention, that's just part of this. It's just not the reason why we do what we do. I want to make a difference with everything I do."

As a running back, Saquon Barkley still has a lot he wants to prove.

In terms of legacy, who he has become in six years with the Giants already stands on its own.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Saquon Barkley: NY Giants legacy that goes deeper than stats