NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - FEBRUARY 09: Saquon Barkley #26 of the Philadelphia Eagles celebrates with ... More the Vince Lombardi Trophy after beating the Kansas City Chiefs 40-22 to win Super Bowl LIX at Caesars Superdome on February 09, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
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Being a Super Bowl champion and the Offensive Player of the Year is the top of the mountain for any NFL running back, but Saquon Barkley isn’t sitting around enjoying the view. The 28-year-old Philadelphia Eagle is focusing on next season and beyond.
“I think you have to adapt, right? You always have to adapt. You always have to try to find new ways to improve your game no matter how successful the year was or if it didn’t live up to the expectation that you set for yourself," the three-time Pro Bowler said over Zoom.
"So I’ve been attacking this offseason with the same mindset that I had last offseason. You can’t try to create a whole new invention, but you got to go back and watch and see the things that you did successfully, see the things that you could work on and always, be your biggest critic, always look upon yourself.
“Not like I got it all figured out. What else can I do to keep going? And that’s the nature of the business. That’s the business that we’re part of. It’s what have you done for me lately? So, Offensive Player of the Year, Super Bowl champs, but that’s in the past. That was last year.
"When I’m done, when I’m in my forties and I’m bragging to my son and his friends saying that I actually was a good football player one time, that’s when you bring it up. But right now, you just focus on the future and you use all the different techniques and tools you can use to get better."
Saquon Barkley courtesy of C4
Sharif Fennell Jr.
One of the tools Barkley is using to level up is the pre-workout powder [C4 Sport](https://cellucor.com/products/c4-sport?srsltid=AfmBOor5VDo0YTUWseo2AhYoiug5reAzrGO3emoLxtBl2pZFroA2UqrH). Saquon was such a big fan of C4, part of the sports nutrition brand Nutrabolt, that he partnered with C4 ahead of the 2025 NFL season.
“I’m excited about the partnership with C4. For me, I’ve been using C4 for a very long time. So it’s kind of cool anytime you get to align with a brand that you actually use and it’s authentic to yourself,” the 2024 league-leading rusher said.
"But especially with the NSF (National Sanitation Foundation) certified C4 Sport, it makes so much sense for me because as an athlete, or athletes in general, you always have to worry about what you put in your body. You always have to worry about the ingredients you’re putting in your body because our bodies are everything.
“So we got to make sure that it’s safe and being NSF certified shows how safe it is. The ingredients are not only safe, but they help you perform at a higher level. And, I think it’s pretty cool to see now being a part of the brand, throughout my career, seeing [how many athletes](https://cellucor.com/pages/certified-for-sport-athletes) and how many guys in the NFL and the locker room actually use the product.”
Beyond racking up more on-field accolades, being a good teammate and a good pro seem to be more vital to the legacy Barkley is carving out for himself.
This was apparent when the former New York Giant had an opportunity to break his single-game rushing record of 189 yards this past October. Sitting 13 yards away late in his first game back at Met Life Stadium since departing from the Giants organization, the dynamic back instead chose to give some reps to other teammates. "I’d rather see the young boys eat," Barkley told Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni on the sideline.
“Super important, super important for me. I think it’s everything,” Saquon said of being a good teammate. "You want to leave a legacy and you want to be a Hall of Famer and you want to be talked about as one of the greats.
"But, one of my favorite things about Barry Sanders who’s one of my favorite players, there’s a clip that I saw when I was a little kid in NFL Films … there’s a clip of him on the sideline and this is Barry Sanders, the best running back to ever play in my opinion, Walter Payton’s up there too, don’t get me wrong, (Sanders is) on the sideline filling up Gatorade cups for his teammates.
"And that was a moment when I was like, ‘Oh, okay there's more to it than just being a successful football player.’ My teammates, when it's all said and done, those are the people that really kind of carry out your legacy, your teammates, the fans, the people that interact with you.
"So I want to be known as not just only a good football player, but a person that was able to help inspire other people, a person who always had his teammates’ back. And not only did they know that I would go out there and work my tail off, but that they could count on me for anything and I would give them my all.
"So it’s super important. It’s probably the most important thing outside of within your family. Being the best teammate you possibly can be is the thing that's going to matter more when, like again, I keep referring to when I'm in my 40s and 50s, we're not going to just talk about the highlight runs.
"You want to talk about that time you had in the locker room, the laughs we had in the locker room, the talks we had in the locker room. I think those go a long way and are super important."
Saquon Barkley courtesy of C4
Sharif Fennell Jr.
Long before Barkley tried C4 products, he saw big gains as a young running back from an unconventional source, which still serves as his go-to snack.
“I’m really just a big fruit guy,” Saquon said.
As a high school sophomore, Barkley played at around 5’5, 150 lbs. He returned to play his junior year around 5’9, 200 lbs.
A friend on the team asked Saquon about the transformation, to which he replied, “I just ate a lot of fruit.”
Barkley doesn’t have much time to unwind with TV shows or movies while snacking on fruit, but is a big MCU fan and is also eagerly awaiting season 2 of Hulu’s post-apocalyptic political thriller _Paradise_. He’s looking forward to _Fantastic Four_ and had high praise for _Deadpool and Wolverine_. “I loved it. I think it’s a great movie. It’s a really good plane movie to knock out if you’ve got a decent flight,” he said of the Marvel fan service juggernaut.
Despite the former Penn State Nittany Lion ruling the league last season in Philadelphia’s backfield and the Eagles dethroning the Kansas City Chiefs in dominating fashion in the Super Bowl, Saquon landing in Philly last year wasn’t a sure thing. He almost called Chicago his new football home during the 2024 free agency period before signing with the Eagles.
“I think the thing that I loved about Chicago was the history of it and being a running back, Walter Payton being there and having conversations with Walter Payton’s son (Jarrett, a sports anchor with WGN TV in Chicago). For me, it was just being able to stay close at home.
Saquon Barkley courtesy of C4
Sharif Fennell Jr.
"We have the luxury of on Mother’s Day I can just drive down and spend Mother’s Day with my mom and come back and spend Mother’s Day with my family, Thanksgiving, all the holidays, and that offensive line. Philadelphia Eagles’ offensive line is definitely enticing as a running back and I think it showed this (past) season."
Although he wound up not sporting a Bears jersey, as the Windy City would have loved, Barkley does have thoughts on where the organization is headed after a tough but hopeful first season for Bears quarterback and 2024 No. 1 overall pick, Caleb Williams.
“They hired a great coach that can definitely help that franchise and that organization to take the next step. I know that they have it,” Saquon said of the Bears, who play the Eagles Nov. 28. "The quarterback, there's a lot of guys who get drafted really high and don't have the success early on. It’s not by accident that these guys get drafted that high. It's not by accident that Caleb is the number one pick.
"He’s super talented and he has a lot of talent around him, and they did a really good job with addressing the offensive line (this offseason). So I have a really good feeling that they’re going to be a really good team. They're in a tough division, clearly, so that always sucks. They've got to play us, too, so that sucks, too.
“Going more into the question of do I believe in Caleb? I don’t think it’s a question. He can make any throw. He's super athletic. Sometimes it just takes a little longer than people would like. And hopefully this is the year they turn it around, but they don't turn it around too good and they still give us the chance that we need to go out there and get another opportunity to win.”