Saquon Barkley moved on from the New York Giants this offseason and the former No. 2 overall pick will now suit up for the hated rival Philadelphia Eagles.
That move to “spurn” the Giants for the Eagles incited some heated responses from Giants fans. It also spurred former Giant Tiki Barber to get involved in the situation.
Barber and Barkley got into a war of words after the former Penn State standout decided to sign with Philly. Barber, who later went on to say it was tongue-in-cheek, initially said Barkley was “dead” to him and other Giant fans who grew fiercely irritated with the former first-rounder.
Saquon joined the New Heights podcast with stars Jason and Travis Kelce this week where he discussed a variety of topics. Barkley discussed his beef with the WFAN radio host and wished things had gone differently. He added that Barber shouldn’t have done one particular thing.
“I love seeing NFL guys, I love seeing OGs, I love seeing you guys, you have a platform, this is a place where you know ball, you can talk, you can educate fans. Maybe use that time to show, ‘Maybe this is why Saquon is going to Philly,’ Barkley said via the New York Post.
“The business side of it, use that to show–I’m not saying you got to have loyalty to me because I don’t care for that, to be honest, but you are an ex-NFL player, an ex-NFL athlete, don’t feed into the B.S.,” Barkley said. “Let fans do that, they’re supposed to do that, they’re emotional.”
Barkley’s comments ring interestingly when you consider the shift in dynamics in sports media lately. Many players have begun to dabble in the space. Tiki Barber is not the first or last former athlete to become a prominent sports media voice. He’s not new to this game.
But Barkley isn’t out of bounds when he suggested that Tiki thinks from the ex-athlete perspective even if his job is as a radio voice. Sports talk radio can leave a lot to be desired, but that’s also why his comments stick out. If anyone would know what Barkley is going through, it’s probably Barber. He also had a controversial exit from New York, one that was a lot stickier. Remember what happened to the Giants in 2007 after Barber retired in 2006?
About Chris Novak
Chris Novak has been talking and writing about sports ever since he can remember. Previously, Novak wrote for and managed sites in the SB Nation network for nearly a decade from 2013-2022