PHOENIX — There are many things Miles Sanders knows about his buddy, Saquon Barkley, but Sanders does not know this:
“I don’t know how he feels about me making it to the Super Bowl before him,’’ Sanders said Monday night, flashing a smile. “I definitely got some bragging rights.’’
Yeah, he’s got some bragging rights. The mentee got here before the mentor.
Sanders was always a step or two behind Barkley when they were teammates at Penn State but look who is still playing and who is again watching. Sanders is the leading rusher for the Eagles, who easily ran over their NFC competition to advance to Super Bowl LVII against the Chiefs. Barkley led the Giants in rushing this past season, as he has done for three of his five NFL years.Â
Barkley has not had a sniff of the Super Bowl, finally making the playoffs this season, for the first time, in his fifth year with the Giants.
The two running backs, friends from their shared time together in college, got to the NFL via different pathways. Barkley was far more heralded as the No. 2 overall pick in 2018. A year later, Sanders went to the Eagles in the second round, with pick No. 53. This was in keeping with the way these players were viewed in State College, Pa. Barkley was the star, Sanders the understudy.
Sanders got to Penn State in 2016, one year after Barkley had already established himself by rushing for 1,076 yards as a freshman. In Sanders’ first two years on campus, he was Barkley’s backup, unable to crack the lineup with much regularity. While Barkley was rushing for 1,496 yards in 2016 and 1,271 yards in 2017 — and also running for 36 touchdowns — Sanders was getting only 25 and 31 rushing attempts as a freshman and sophomore, respectively.
That was not easy on Sanders.
“The way that situation happened, it was the Saquon show,’’ Sanders said at the Eagles’ first media session of Super Bowl week, the Opening Night event at Footprint Center, home of the Suns. “I supported him, sat back and watched and learned from a great running back and took it all in, really. Proud of him where he is right now, as he’s proud of me.
“My confidence never went down. It was definitely difficult but it never went down. All I needed was a chance, got my chance, got drafted to the second round in Philly, four years later I’m in the Super Bowl. I can’t complain.’’
When Barkley left for the NFL after his junior year, Sanders finally got his chance as the feature back for the Nittany Lions and ran for 1,274 yards to rise to the level of a solid NFL prospect.
Sanders said when he entered the NFL he and Barkley “had like a little silent bet’’ about who would win more awards. “That’s between us,’’ Sanders said. “It’s very competitive.’’
Both are coming off comeback seasons. Barkley in 2021 missed three games with a sprained ankle, clearly was not fully back in form following reconstructive knee surgery a year earlier and finished with only 593 rushing yards. In 2022, Barkley did not miss a game with an injury and amassed a career-high 1,312 rushing yards. Sanders last season missed four games with hand and ankle injuries and ran for a career-low 754 yards and no touchdowns. This season, he ran for 1,236 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Barkley after he and Sanders struggled in 2021 sent his friend a direct message stating, “See you at the top,’’ confident both would rebound. As it turned out, that confidence was well-founded.
The four-year, $5.3 million rookie contract Sanders signed in 2019 expires after this season. Barkley is also without a contract, as the Giants picked up his fifth-year option in 2022 for $7.2 million and negotiations are underway to keep him off the open market, although the two sides are not close on numbers. Barkley turns 26 on Thursday. Sanders turns 26 on May 1. Both could be back with the teams that drafted them or in another uniform next season.
For now, Sanders suits up Sunday. Barkley will be watching.
