The Rush: Saquon Barkley on Brady’s 7th ring and celebrating Groundhog Day
New York Giants RB Saquon Barkley stops by to discuss the progress he’s making in rehabilitating his torn ACL, whether the Chiefs or Bucs will come out on top in Super Bowl LV, how the Giants reacted to their playoff fate resting in the Eagles’ hands, what he told Derrick Henry the day he passed 2000 rush yards, and how he plans to spend March 14 (better known in Pennsylvania as Saquon Barkley Day). PLUS: It’s Groundhog Day...again...so Saquon reveals the day in his life he would relive over and over again.
Video Transcript
SAQUON BARKLEY: The football community is kind of like a family. When I got hurt, I think all the running backs that you probably can think of have reached out to me and let me know that they're praying for me, and they know that I'm gonna come back from this, and they can't wait to see me next year.
[THEME MUSIC]
JARED QUAY: What's up, everybody. I'm here with Giants All-Star running back Saquon Barkley. Saquon, how you doing today, brother.
SAQUON BARKLEY: Doing great. How you doing, boss?
JARED QUAY: I'm doing good. The big game, man. I mean, obviously I know you would love to be playing in it. But as a fan, who we rooting for, Chiefs or Bucs?
SAQUON BARKLEY: I would love to see Brady win his seventh ring and Tampa go back and win in Tampa. It would be-- it would be pretty dope.
JARED QUAY: And on top of that, if he wins, maybe he'll retire because he won enough. And then other teams can start winning, you know.
SAQUON BARKLEY: He just came out and said he might play till he's past 45.
JARED QUAY: Hey, let somebody else win, Tom. Let somebody else win. Your Giants could have had a chance to play in the big game. But the Eagles kind of gave up in week 17 against the Football Team. What was the Giants' text thread, the group chat? What was going on in there when Doug Pederson benched Jalen Hurts?
SAQUON BARKLEY: Oh, more just a little confused what was going on. But our takeaway from that was, next year we can't put our faith in another team's hands.
JARED QUAY: So how is rehab going so far?
SAQUON BARKLEY: Rehab's going good. You know, just attacking it every single day, trying to get 1% better every single day. You know, it's teaching me a lot. Teaching me a lot about myself, teaching me patience, teaching me that I'm resilient. Sometimes you got to have some negative things happen in your life for you to come out stronger.
JARED QUAY: Last week we had my man Derrick Henry on this show. And he just joined an exclusive club that rushes for 2,000 yards. And after seeing him do that, is your motivation different? Is that like a new goal? You're trying to step up, see if you can't join that exclusive club?
SAQUON BARKLEY: That's an elite club that you always want to join. You know, you want to be elite. You want to compete and be the best. And for him to do that, especially in the era of football that I play in definitely opened your eyes.
I-- I reached out to him before the game. Like, I knew the yards he had. And I was like, go get it. And I'm happy for him. He's a great dude and he's a heck of a player. And only hear nothing but great things about him.
JARED QUAY: Today's Groundhog's Day. So I'm going to ask you a question. If you could live one day over and over and over again for eternity, which day would you choose in your life to repeat?
SAQUON BARKLEY: The birth of my daughter. But seeing that repeatedly, repeatedly, repeatedly, I don't know if that's something you would want to continue to do every single day. I'm going to have to go with the second-best day of my life, playing in my first NFL game.
JARED QUAY: Oh, yeah.
SAQUON BARKLEY: That's something you can never, ever forget-- or scoring my first NFL touchdown.
JARED QUAY: I'm surprised you didn't choose March 14, all right. 'Cause doing my research, because Pennsylvania has made that Saquon Barkley Day. And so I got to ask you, how does Saquon Barkley celebrate Saquon Barkley Day?
SAQUON BARKLEY: By being Saquon-- I'm joking.
JARED QUAY: [CHUCKLES]
SAQUON BARKLEY: Yeah, I have-- that is true. I do have a day in Pennsylvania. And I have a day in my hometown, in Copley, Pennsylvania, too. I think it's a credit to how my parents raised me. And I make not only my town but the state that I represent before-- I'll just say I repped it before. Now I represent New Jersey/New York, with the Giants. I made them proud and I handles myself the right way. So yes, I do have a day. I've got them number one.
JARED QUAY: I requested off. I told my boss, I'm taking off. It's a national holiday, Saquon Barkley Day. I'm about to be in-- in Puerto Rico or somewhere. Thank you for coming out and rushing with me, brother.
SAQUON BARKLEY: Thanks for having me. Always a blast with you guys. Take care.