Saquon Barkley opens up about feud with Giants legend

New Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley opened up about Barkley’s unexpected feud with New York Giants legend Tiki Barber on the “New Heights” podcast hosted by Jason and Travis Kelce.

“Maybe use that time to show, ‘Maybe this is why Saquon is going to Philly’…the business side of it,” Barkley said about comments Barber made during the WFAN “Evan and Tiki” program, per Jaclyn Hendricks of the New York Post. “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., let fans do that. They’re supposed to do that. They’re emotional.” 

The matter started when Barber warned Barkley about making an offseason move from the Giants to the rival Eagles. Shortly after it was learned that Barkley would be signing with Philadelphia in free agency, Barber joked that Barkley was “dead” to him. Barkley responded via social media and said that Barber had “been a hater” for years, which may have been a reference to criticisms Barber made about Barkley’s performances in September 2020. 

“I love seeing NFL guys,” Barkley told the Kelce brothers. “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.”

Barber isn’t shy about the fact that he still supports the Giants, and he ultimately admitted that Barkley featuring for a different NFC East club “pains” Big Blue fans. Barkley suggested during the podcast he understands such emotions, but he also shared that some have gone too far with their reactions. 

“Honestly, if fans wouldn’t be mad that I went from New York to Philly, that means I did nothing when I was in New York,” Barkley noted. “Whether on the field or off the field, that means I made an impact at some point. That’s the reason why fans were so torn apart about it. I see my jersey getting burned, my family’s getting threats, my house, I see that part of it.” 

Barber serves as a CBS Sports NFL analyst and, thus, could work one of Barkley’s games this coming fall. Perhaps the network could put the two inside the same room for what could become an interesting pregame chat between ball-carriers who experienced plenty of highs and lows during their Giants tenures.