CHARLOTTE — Saquon Barkley has established himself as one of the most physically dominant players on the football field, combining size, speed, and strength that few can match. His remarkable performance played a key role in leading the Eagles to a Super Bowl victory. In 2024, Barkley came the closest anyone has in the past 40 years to breaking Eric Dickerson’s rushing record, finishing the regular season with 2,005 rushing yards. His incredible season earned him the NFL Offensive Player of the Year award.
While Barkley has thrived with the Eagles, his journey in the NFL began with the Giants, where he was drafted in 2018 and earned NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year honors. However, there’s another memorable moment from his rookie season that stands out just as much. It happened in Week 5, when the Giants faced off against the Carolina Panthers.
During a recent appearance on the popular YouTube show Hot Ones, where celebrities are interviewed by Sean Evans while eating progressively hotter wings, Barkley was asked about the moment he first noticed the “sheer strength and power difference” between college and the NFL.
Without hesitation, Barkley recalled a moment from Week 5 of his rookie year against the Carolina Panthers, describing it as his first real wake-up call.
“Yeah, I’ll tell you the story,” Barkley said. “Julius Peppers, obviously an unbelievable talent, my rookie year, we had a play where I broke it outside and got blown dead with a flag. He had me right by my shoulder pads. And I was like, ‘He’s trying me.’ So I tried to swat his arm down, and it didn’t budge. I tried again, and it still didn’t move. I thought, ‘Come on, bro, let me go!'”
The 2018 season marked the final year of Julius Peppers’ career in the NFL. At 38 years old, he found himself facing the 21-year-old powerhouse Saquon Barkley, and Peppers easily won the matchup.
“And that’s when I realized there’s a difference between ‘grown man strength’ and just being strong in the weight room,” Barkley admitted. “That was probably the most humbling moment of my life, not just on the football field, but as a man too. Because in that moment, I definitely would’ve needed help.”
Evans chimed in, “That’s probably the first arm in a while you haven’t been able to move,” to which Barkley responded, “Yeah, usually it’s easy. But that was like, ‘he’s strong, strong. I’m strong, but he’s super strong.’ And that was a moment for me.”
Barkley has since continued to build an impressive career, with no signs of slowing down. Meanwhile, Peppers concluded his career on top, earning a well-deserved first-ballot induction into the Hall of Fame. Their 2018 matchup was the only time they shared the field, and it highlighted what made both of them unique: Barkley, typically the strongest in the room, made a vow to never be overpowered again—a promise he’s largely upheld. And Peppers, with his unmatched “old-man strength,” continued to dominate the field in a way only he could.
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