NEW ORLEANS — Saquon Barkley set an NFL single-season rushing record Sunday night at Super Bowl LIX, held his young daughter as a torrent of confetti fluttered around them in the Superdome, and flashed a smile as he held a Philadelphia newspaper with “CHAMPS!” stamped above his photo.
The Eagles running back then grasped what he really wanted to kiss and hold on this night — what he could only hope was ahead after his tumultuous end with the NFC East Division rival New York Giants that diverted his career down the turnpike to the City of Brotherly Love.
The 2,000-yard rusher earned his turn with the Lombardi Trophy.
“She looked prettier in person, I’ll tell you that,” Barkley said of the hardware given to the NFL’s championship team. “Something that you dream of. I’m just happy to hold it, be able to give it a kiss.”
Barkley finished with a modest 57 yards on the ground in Eagles’ 40-22 win over Kansas City — a paltry number for an elite back who posted seven touchdown runs of 60-plus yards this season — but the total was enough to set the NFL single-season rushing record, postseason included, topping the mark of 2,476 yards set by Terrell Davis for the 1998 Broncos on the way to their own Super Bowl title.
He ended perhaps the greatest debut season of any free agent in Philadelphia sports history on perhaps the greatest championship team the city has ever had with 2,504 total yards on and 18 touchdown runs.
“Hell of a year, right? I couldn’t do it without the big boys up front, everyone on this team. I just appreciate them — the whole Eagles organization,” Barkley said. “Of me being a newcomer, welcoming me in with open arms and helping build confidence back in me too. That was definitely helpful.
“It was a hell of a year, all of the numbers and stats or records are cool, but the best thing is to be able to hold that Lombardi Trophy.”
Barkley, this season’s NFL offensive player of the year, needed only 30 yards to top Davis, who remains the last running back to be voted Super Bowl MVP.
Barkley ran the ball on the first offensive play of the game Sunday night and finally got the mark after a slow first half on a 2-yard run on the last play before the break. Barkley had 12 carries for 31 yards for a measly 2.6 yards per carry. He averaged 5.8 yards in the regular season.
And yet the Eagles were fine without Barkley’s usually spectacular production. Thanks to two interceptions by the defense and two total touchdowns from quarterback Jalen Hurts, the Eagles led the Chiefs 24-0 at halftime.
Barkley had reason to feel festive Sunday, not only because he set the rushing record and was playing in his first Super Bowl in his first season with the Eagles, but because he turned 28.
His 2,005 rushing yards in the regular season made Barkley the ninth running back in NFL history to top 2,000 on the ground, and he entered the Super Bowl with 2,447 thanks to his performances over the first three rounds of the playoffs.
Barkley’s seven touchdowns of 60-plus yards (that includes the postseason) were a record, and he joined Davis as one of only two players in NFL history with at least 400 rushing yards and five touchdowns in a single postseason.
Long reluctant to spend major money on running backs, the Eagles have reaped the rewards and a rewriting of the franchise record book on their $26 million guaranteed leap of faith on Barkley. He has flashed the kind of unbelievable plays that fans say are ripped straight from a video game, including a mind-bending backward hurdle that was so foreign to the sport the “Madden” franchise had to release an update to make it possible in its most recent title.
There was nothing virtual about this Lombardi Trophy.
“It’s better in person than it is in Madden, I’ll tell you that playing as a kid,” Barkley said. “It’s everything you dream of. I’m just happy to be able to hold it, give it a kiss and be world champs.”
All this after his departure in free agency was chronicled by the documentary series “Hard Knocks.”
In the crucial scene, Giants general manager Joe Schoen told Barkley the team would not make him an offer or stick the franchise tag on him. Rather, the Giants let Barkley — who had spent his first six NFL seasons with them — test the free-agent market, a move that sent him to a division rival.
“I’ll have a tough time sleeping if Saquon goes to Philadelphia, I’ll tell you that,” team owner John Mara said to Schoen in the series. “As I’ve told you, just being around enough players, he’s the most popular player we have, by far.”
Mara might have a tough night getting winks after this Super Bowl.
Stuck at just two career playoff games during his time with the Giants, Barkley had arguably the greatest first season of any player in Eagles history. His 2,005 rushing yards in the regular season (an Eagles record and eighth in NFL history) left him only 101 shy of breaking Eric Dickerson’s record of 2,105.
The Eagles rested Barkley in the regular-season finale, denying him the shot to pass Dickerson.
There’s no sitting out in the Super Bowl. And now there’s no running back who has rushed for more yards in a season than Barkley.