Eagles running back Saquon Barkley sat down with Dean Moe McGuinness for a moderated discussion on Wednesday, April 30 in Sojka Pavilion. After three years of playing football at Penn State, Barkley was drafted second overall to the New York Giants where he played for six seasons before being traded to Philadelphia. This past February, in his first season on the Eagles, Barkley assisted the team in winning their second Super Bowl Championship and his first as an NFL player. He currently holds the record of most yards rushed in a single season with 2,504 yards in the 2024-25 season. Prior to speaking to students and local fans, Barkley sat down with the Bucknellian for a brief interview.
Q: What was your college experience like at Penn State, as an athlete and as a communications major? What did finishing your degree mean to you?
A: My experience at Penn State was amazing. I created so many memories there, not just on a football field but off. I made friends that became brothers and people that I still to this day hang out with, and every time I get to see them, they put a smile on my face. There was a lot of focus on school, and when we went to classes, you wouldn’t get bothered. The experience for me at Penn State helped me so much and helped me become… the man I am today. Just everything, whether it’s on the football field or off, whether it’s teammates, coaches, it’s always going to stay with me. I didn’t finish it right away, but I made a promise to my mom and dad I would get my degree. Coach Franklin made me promise that I’ll come back for my degree when I made the decision to leave early.
Q: What has been different between the fan cultures you’ve been a part of, especially in the NFL with the Eagles and Giants, or even in college football at Penn State?
A: Philadelphia fans are definitely passionate. That’s kind of the best way I can describe it. I’ve been part of three great fan bases. That’s a big reason why I wanted to go to Penn State. I remember going in high school, I got to go see a Penn State versus Michigan game, and it changed my life. It changed, like my whole perspective on college football. I’ve been in probably the two biggest markets in New York and Philadelphia. So, obviously we don’t have too much success at New York, but we had a year when we were able to have success as a team and make the playoffs. And then this year, for me, first year, winning the Super Bowl and going to all the home games and just seeing how lit and how fired up the Link gets. I got to experience it as an opponent, but when you’re on the side of it, you definitely appreciate [it] a lot more.
Q: What was it like winning a Super Bowl in your first season playing for Philadelphia?
A: Yeah, I mean, it was my first season playing with the Eagles, but it took me seven long years to be able to make it to the highest top, and it’s something you dream about as a little kid. You know, it’s a team effort. That’s a beautiful thing about the Super Bowl. You can’t get there by yourself. It takes a team, and we had a great team that really cared for each other and was really a together group. It helped us throughout the whole season, but definitely during the Super Bowl.
Q: How do your career goals change over time? After breaking the record for most rushing yards in a season and as a team winning a Super Bowl, what becomes the next goal?
A: They never did. I came into the NFL drafted pretty high. Even with adversities and injuries and whatever, it can never change. I want to be one of the best ever to do it. So whether you tear your ACL and you’re off for the season, or you have the most rushing yards in the season with included playoffs, the mindset doesn’t change. People think adversity is hard, and handling adversity is hard, but handling success is way harder, so nothing changed about it. You just got to find ways to do it again.
Q: How do you balance being a father with being an athlete? What do you preach to your kids as important, whether it’s academics, athletics, different passions?
A: It’s hard to balance being a dad and an athlete. It’s hard to feel like you’re being a great dad and athlete. I wake up at six o’clock in the morning during the season, and I’ll come back at six, seven o’clock at night, and my kids go to bed at 8:30, so it does suck, but it’s all worth it right now. You have to find time to be with your kids, because that’s the most important thing, to be honest, because football is only a short portion of your life. When I’m retired… I’ll have a lot of time to spend with my kids. Sometimes, there’s some events I’m not able to make, but when you are able to make the events, make sure you show up, you’re more than present and be as supportive as you can for your kids. My message to my kids is the same message I give to any other kid: you could do whatever you want. That’s what my parents told me. I’m a big believer in shooting for the stars and landing on the moon, so don’t let anyone tell you you can’t do anything.
Q: What other schools have you visited on this tour, and why have you decided to visit these schools? What do you hope to get out of visiting college campuses?
A: This might be one of the first colleges I’m talking to. This is what I want to do. I was a communications major, I want to speak… and be on TV. Kind of similar to what Michael Strahan does, have a solid talk about football, but be able to just speak about topics that are going on in everyday life… I am perceived as a well-known athlete, so some people look forward to hearing from me. I’m able to use my platform that God gave me to be able to show people my mindset, how I was able to accomplish the things… and through my ups and my downs, hopefully be able to inspire others… You get to show up and talk, and people get to see a side of me that they may not know. Everybody has an opinion of people until you actually meet them. Maybe I might meet some of those opinions, or maybe I might change some of them. So I think that’s pretty cool.
Q: What made you get involved with organizations like Covenant House, AthLife Foundation, Michael Ann & Saquon Barkley Hope Foundation and Children of Promise, and what do you get out of them?
A: I feel like God’s put me in position and gave me a platform. You only get to play football for a short time, right? I’m about to go in year eight. You still have a long life to live. So you don’t want to just be remembered as a football player, you want to be remembered as someone that had an impact on people and able to change lives. And it’s crazy. Because I’m able to run with a football or do cool things, I’m able to have that impact on kids, and it’s all about inspiring. I feel like really my main focus is really with children, because you have to inspire the youth, because they’re the next generation. They’re the people that you got [to] pass the torch to. So I try to keep them in mind with everything that I do, and I just try to help as much as I can.
Q: Any game day superstitions?
A: No, I do not. I’ve lost a lot of football games, and I’ve won some. So it’s like, there’s never been anything that factors into why I played well that day. So my mindset is, if I’m consistent in my preparation and I continue to work on myself, the rest takes care of itself. It’s not the certain type of underwear I wear or the certain type of socks I wear. It’s me.
Q: How successfully do you think you’d be able to climb a greased pole in Philly?
A: Good question. Am I allowed to cheat? Am I allowed to use a towel? It’d be really hard, but if I had to, like life or death, you got to figure this out— I’ll find a way.
