Oct 20, 2024; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; Philadelphia Eagles running back (and former NY Giants back) Saquon Barkley (26) greets fans at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images Robert Deutsch
Eagles running back Saquon Barkley told FOX's Kristina Pink that he saw a fan burning his jersey outside MetLife Stadium on his way in Sunday before his first game against the New York Giants. Barkley has heard loud boos from Giants fan every time he's touched the ball so far Sunday afternoon.
The disdain for the former Offensive Rookie of the Year from Giants fans perplexes Eagles legend Jason Kelce:
For the life of me, I don’t understand why Giants fans hate Saquon for what happened, and not the Giants organization for the fact he is an Eagle. They have absolutely no one to blame other than the Giants ownership and management decisions for why he is no longer a Giant.… https://t.co/qnyTeLRJT1
Kelce's full tweet read as "For the life of me, I don’t understand why Giants fans hate Saquon for what happened, and not the Giants organization for the fact he is an Eagle. They have absolutely no one to blame other than the Giants ownership and management decisions for why he is no longer a Giant. Obviously understand their hate of the Eagles, and desire for him not to succeed, just very odd this energy is directed at him more so than the organization…"
By all accounts, Giants general manager Joe Schoen and coach Brian Daboll made the decision to use resources elsewhere, rather than matching the three-year/$37.75 million deal Barkley signed to join the Eagles, a pact that includes $26 million guaranteed. In fact, Barkley told an angry Giants fan on Twitter back in May that the Giants didn't make an offer to him at all:
Let me educate some of you fans here… I can’t bail or become a traitor if I never got an offer to come back.. so I went to the organization I felt that was the best and after already being here for a month man I’m excited to be a eagle ! Go birds 🦅
This trend, of course, isn't unique to Giants fans. Washington Nationals fans continue to boo Bryce Harper, even though their front office didn't come close to matching the 13-year/$330 million deal that he ultimately got from the Phillies. The flip side of that is many Phillies fans booed Jayson Werth — a key cog in the 2008 World Series title — after he signed a seven-year/$126 million deal with the Nationals in free agency, despite no evidence that the Phillies ever made a competitive offer.
Evidently, many fans view it as traitorous to join a division-rival. As Kelce notes, that anger should probably be redirected at the front office of their team. It's particularly silly in this case considering Barkley is from Whitehall, Pennsylvania. If the Giants weren't going to bring him back, how can you fault him for signing with what amounts to his hometown team?
