Many famous athletes have ties to the Bronx. Today, we’ll talk about Saquon Barkley, an American football running back who plays for the New York Giants in the NFL. He has two Pro Bowls to his name (2018 and 2022), two Rookie of the Year honors (the Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Year and the Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2018), and was ranked 19th among the NFL’s top 100 players in 2019. Read more on i-bronx.
A Large, Athletic Family
Saquon’s parents, Alibay Barkley and Tonya Johnson, raised five children. The star football player has two brothers (Alibay Jr. and Rashad) and two sisters (Shaquona and Aaliyah). In many interviews, Saquon has emphasized that his parents always played an important role in his life, supporting and loving all their children, and trying to give them the best despite financial hardships and personal problems. He promised his family he would buy them a new house after signing a big contract, and he kept that promise.
The Barkley family first lived in the Bronx, but in 2001, they moved to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, to provide a better environment for their children. Saquon was only four years old at the time. In 2005, the Barkleys moved again, to Copley, also in Pennsylvania.
Moving, changing schools, and setting up a household—it all took a lot of time and effort for Tonya and Alibay, but they always found time and a way to support their children’s interests and passions. The family was quite athletic. Alibay himself was a boxer in his youth and continued to lead a healthy lifestyle as an adult, and his brother, Iran Barkley, was even a world champion in middleweight boxing in 1988. Saquon’s older brother, Alibay Jr., also played baseball for the Los Angeles Angels.
An Unusual Name
Alibay Barkley always wanted to give his son a unique name. He first suggested naming him Machiavelli after his favorite rapper, Tupac Shakur, who used that moniker, alluding to the Italian philosopher. However, Tonya was adamantly against this choice. In the end, they chose the name Saquon, which had family roots in Tonya Johnson’s maiden name and was similar to his older sister Shaquona’s name, while still being rare.
According to data from the New York City Department of Health, since Saquon’s birth in the Bronx in 1997, fewer than ten people have had that name. In the rest of New York State, no one named Saquon was registered from the early 1920s on. But after Barkley became a famous football player, his name began to appear frequently on the birth certificates of American boys. A similar story happened with basketball player Kobe Bryant. There were approximately 14 people named Kobe in the United States before the teenage basketball prodigy was drafted into the NBA in 1996. Today, there are thousands of them.
Unleashing Athletic Talents at Whitehall High School
Saquon showed athletic ability from childhood; he was very active, determined, and persistent. So, his parents decided to enroll him in Whitehall High School, which was known for its track record of preparing athletes for the NFL and other professional sports. Barkley dedicated most of his attention to American football. Throughout his time at the school, from his sophomore to his senior year, Barkley gained 3,646 rushing yards and 63 touchdowns, including 1,856 yards and 31 touchdowns in his senior year.
But Barkley wasn’t limited to football. He also played basketball and competed in track and field. In 2015, as a senior, he won gold medals at the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference in the 100-meter dash (11.15 seconds) and the long jump (6.77 m). He also set a school record in the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.90 seconds and achieved significant personal bests in the shot put (14.08 m) and high jump (1.83 m).
Barkley was recognized as a four-star recruit. He received many scholarship offers from universities such as Missouri, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Pitt, Rutgers, Syracuse, and Temple. He initially planned to play for Rutgers but then transferred to Penn State.
College Career
At Penn State, Barkley quickly earned playing time, making his debut in 2015. In his first game, he ran for one yard, but in his second game against Buffalo, he gained 115 yards and scored a touchdown. In his third game, Saquon again impressed everyone—running for 195 yards and scoring two touchdowns. In his first year at Penn State, Barkley gained a total of 1,076 yards on 182 carries. His freshman-year performances earned him recognition—he was named to the second-team All-Big Ten and was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
In his sophomore year, in 2016, Barkley started the season with 105 yards and a touchdown against Kent State. In the next game against Pitt, he helped the team by scoring five touchdowns. In the game against Minnesota, Saquon became an overtime hero, running for 25 yards for the winning touchdown.
Throughout the season, Barkley continued to impress and became the first player in Penn State history to rush for 200 yards in a game. He also set a record by gaining 277 yards in a game against Purdue. At the end of the season, he was named Offensive Player of the Year and was selected for the first-team All-Big Ten.
After his sophomore year, Barkley set Penn State records for most rushing yards in a season for freshmen (1,076 yards) and sophomores (1,496 yards).
In the first game of the 2017 season against Akron, Barkley ran for 172 yards on 14 carries, scoring two touchdowns. For this, Saquon was recognized as one of the best offensive players of the week in the Big Ten.
In Penn State’s first tournament in Iowa, Barkley helped his team to a 21–19 victory, gaining 358 all-purpose yards. In his first home game against Indiana, Barkley became the first player in Big Ten history to score a touchdown on a return and a pass in the same game. In his final game for Penn State, Barkley gained 137 yards and scored two touchdowns, which helped the team win 28–7 against the Washington Huskies in the 2017 Fiesta Bowl. After this victory, on December 31, 2017, Barkley announced his decision to forgo his final year at Penn State and enter the 2018 NFL Draft.
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Achieving the Goal — Barkley in the NFL
According to many forecasts, Saquon Barkley was expected to land in the top 10 of the NFL draft. In the first round, analysts said, “Barkley is a once-in-a-generation talent; teams that pass on this young guy will regret it.”
At the combine, Saquon impressed everyone, running a 40-yard dash in 4.4 seconds and performing 29 bench presses with 225 pounds, which was the best result among running backs.
Ultimately, Barkley was selected by the New York Giants with the second overall pick in the 2018 draft. On July 22 of that year, he signed a four-year, fully guaranteed $31.2 million contract.
In his NFL debut, Barkley scored his first touchdown, running for 68 yards, and gained a total of 106 yards in a loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. This game marked the beginning of a long and successful career for the football player, which continues to this day. Here are just a few of his NFL achievements:
- Most 100+ yard games by a rookie — 12 games;
- Most 50+ yard touchdowns by a rookie — 5;
- Most receptions by a rookie running back — 91;
- 9th running back in NFL history to reach 2,000 all-purpose yards in their first two seasons.
As of 2024, Saquon Barkley’s total assets are estimated at $45 million, mainly from his NFL salary of $35 million.
In 2018, the Pennsylvania General Assembly voted to make March 14 a state holiday, known as “Saquon Barkley Day.”
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