There’s not a ton to be happy about for New York City football fans. With both of the city’s NFL franchises sporting records well under .500, football season is looking bleak in the Big Apple.
And to add insult to injury, one of the city’s former gridiron stars is having a stellar season on his new team. Former New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley is now tearing it up for the NFC East division rival Philadelphia Eagles.
Barkley racked up over 150 total yards and a pair of touchdowns against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday. And one standout play had CBS NFL analyst Jason McCourty thinking about just how bad a fumble it was for the Giants to let him go.
“Poor Giants fans that are just at home watching as Saquon Barkley is just doing what he does.” – Jason McCourty pic.twitter.com/ulRtNFKVjE
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) November 3, 2024
In a play you had to see to believe, Barkley, spinning and slashing through the Jaguars secondary, hurdled a would-be tackler backwards. That’s right. Barkley, with his back to the defender, completely jumped over him. McCourty was rightfully in awe, but couldn’t help but mention how Giants fans must be feeling as they witness their former superstar making ridiculous plays in an Eagles jersey.
“Poor Giants fans that are just at home watching as Saquon Barkley is just doing what he does,” McCourty said as CBS replayed the hurdle.
The Giants-Barkley saga that resulted in the running back suiting up for Philadelphia this season was well-documented during Hard Knocks: Offseason with the New York Giants. And now, even after Barkley had a statement game against his former team in MetLife Staidum earlier this year, announcers still aren’t ready to let the narrative go. Who could blame them? Barkley was arguably the most recognizable Giants player of the 2020s and they let him go to a division rival where he’s having one of the best seasons of his career.
Plays like this serve as a painful reminder for Giants fans of a recent history of personnel mismanagement. And given how publicly the circumstances of this personnel move played out, it’s unlikely Giants fans will be forgetting anytime soon.
[CBS Sports]
