NEW ORLEANS — Saquon Barkley’s family and friends sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to the Eagles’ star running back at St. Pizza on Magazine Street deep into the early hours of Monday morning.
Then Barkley raised his hand to acknowledge the crowd and remind everyone what this was all about.
“Thank you guys for coming,” Barkley said. “I appreciate you guys, seriously. And sh-t. World f—ing champs.”
Barkley’s circle then erupted in cheers, followed by an E-A-G-L-E-S chant to cap off a rapid and remarkable journey from doubted Giants free agent to Eagles Super Bowl champion.
“I never lost faith,” Barkley said as the champagne poured down in the postgame locker room. “And here we are.”
During Philadelphia’s 40-22 Super Bowl LIX beatdown of Kansas City at New Orleans’ Superdome, it was fair to wonder just how large a role the Giants played in this title.
“Think Joe Schoen gets a ring for this?” one observer quipped.
That’s not a cheap shot, though. That’s fair game.
As Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie outlined, Philly had a plan for Barkley when the Giants let him hit free agency in March 2024. And their vision culminated in nothing short of a championship.
“Incredible talent,” Lurie said inside the Eagles’ winning locker room. “We brought him to a team that had a great roster and a great offensive line and weapons everywhere and a triple-threat quarterback. We could see the best of what Saquon can be. We hoped. And that’s what happened.
“And he’s an incredible person, as you all get to know him,” Lurie added. “He epitomizes everything you want a teammate to be.”
Eagles wide receiver Parris Campbell, a former Giants teammate of Barkley’s, smiled when asked how Barkley has been able to immediately impact the Eagles so greatly in his first season with the team.
“Because he’s a beast,” Campbell said. “He’s the best in the world. Simple.”
Barkley wasn’t able to break free in Super Bowl 59, carrying the ball 25 times for 57 yards. But he did catch six Jalen Hurts passes for 40 yards, bringing him to 97 scrimmage yards on the day.
And his big-play threat forced Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo to overcommit to the run, leaving Hurts and his receivers with favorable matchups.
The result was Barkley finishing with an NFL record 2,504 rushing yards including both the regular season and playoffs combined.
The result was a championship, paced by Vic Fangio’s smothering Eagles defense, and a grateful Barkley postgame who deflected all of the credit to his teammates.
“It’s amazing, man. It’s amazing,” Barkley said in the locker room, shirtless and dripping with Armand de Brignac champagne. “You visualize it and you try to manifest all this stuff, but when it actually happens, words can’t describe, man. It’s amazing.
“God is real,” Barkley continued. “God’s amazing. You see the O-line over there, we can’t do this without them. Defense came out and played great. Jalen played great. Put some respect on Jalen’s name. Super thankful.”
Hurts’ 293 yards and three touchdowns earned him a deserved MVP award, although the Eagles’ defense also could have secured that hardware together as a group by forcing three turnovers – including a Cooper DeJean 38-yard interception return for a touchdown.
Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs offense gained 26 yards total on their first three drives. They had 14 net offensive yards at the two-minute warning of the first half.
Travis Kelce had zero catches in the first half of a playoff game for the first time in his career.
And the Eagles drove a dagger into the Chiefs with DeVonta Smith’s 46-yard touchdown catch to stretch Philly’s lead to 34-0 with 2:40 remaining in the third.
“It ain’t have to be close!” defensive tackle Jordan Davis yelled while sprinting off the field postgame. “It ain’t have to be close!”
No it didn’t. Especially because, as former Giant and Eagles offensive guard Nick Gates said of Philly’s roster: “Every position’s stacked.”
Barkley’s free agent signing wasn’t just the cherry on top, though. He was the engine and beating heart of an Eagles team that dominated its way to the franchise’s second ever Super Bowl.
And the Giants handed him to their archrival. And now Barkley has a ring. And he only turned 28 years old on Sunday.
“Why not our dynasty start now?” Barkley said to NBC Philadelphia as the music blared inside the Caesars Superdome locker room.
Good question from Barkley, who blew out a couple different candles early Monday morning: One on his birthday, and another on Schoen and the Giants.
Night night, New York – from Saquon with love.