Saquon Barkley's faith in Giants has finally been rewarded
New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones (8) and running back Saquon Barkley (26) walk off the field after a 20-12 victory over the Washington Commanders, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2022, in Landover, Md. Credit: AP/Susan Walsh
There were so many miserable moments over the last few years when a crestfallen Saquon Barkley sat stooped over at his locker after another loss mumbling about the future and the theoretical day the Giants would turn things around. His irrational optimism never waned, not in the face of horrendous football and hideous results, not as those around him rolled their eyes at his predictions.
He would always use the same phrasing regarding a timeline for the evolution of the franchise from doormat to contender. “Not if, but when it happens…” he would say, as if there was never a doubt in his mind.
Barkley thought a moment on Wednesday about all of those downer discussions, all of the times he held steadfast to his belief in the organization when few others saw the point in it, all the insistances that this was inevitable and only the timing was a matter for debate.
That when, it turns out, is here. When is now.
“It’s the truth,” he said. “I can’t really talk around it to be honest. Yeah, I feel like this is something we can do for a very long time. We have a lot of great talent in this locker room. I think [general manger] Joe [Schoen] and all those guys upstairs, and [head coach Brian Daboll] have done a tremendous job for us and put us in positions and created a roster that can go out there and win games. I feel like the future is bright.”
For once, no one groaned or disagreed or mocked his rosy view of the landscape.
Oddly enough, one of the few people around the Giants these days pooh-poohing their imminent accomplishment is Barkley himself. He spent most of his time with the media downplaying the importance of making the playoffs even though it is something he has been striving toward without grasping for nearly five years.
He said he didn’t have time to think about it. Said he didn’t even know the scenarios that would clinch a spot for the Giants. When he was told them, he focused only on the first determining factor: A win over the Vikings.
He said he is just trying to do the work of each day as it comes.
Most of all, though, he just isn’t that impressed by the possibility of playing an 18th game this season.
Now that he is so close to the postseason, it turns out he wants something more.
“The goal is to make it to the playoffs, but it’s not like you won the Super Bowl,” he said. “It just gives you a chance to compete for that. That’s how I look at it. You want to accomplish that to give yourself a chance to [win the Super Bowl]. I’ll have fun, be happy with my teammates. Obviously, it’s a great accomplishment. But it’s not the grandaddy of them all.”
His intertwining of the Rose Bowl and Super Bowl aside, Barkley, it seems will not be completely satisfied until he wins the latter.
Another when, not if? Maybe.
He was right about the Giants becoming a winning team during his tenure with them, even though it took until now, this last year of his rookie contract, to get there, and even if the previous two head coaches in whom he expressed faith didn’t quite work out. Perhaps he is right about the ultimate destination and can manifest it the way he did through all those grueling interviews after fruitless Sundays.
Stranger things have happened. In fact, they happened twice: in 2007 and 2011.
Those Giants, like these, were never considered the class of the league even as they were rolling through the playoffs. They got hot at the right time, they overachieved, and then they were immortalized. Their first step on those journeys, like these Giants should soon take, was to get into the postseason.
Finally at the point he always referenced and foresaw, the guy who has spent the past four years looking ahead to brighter days is changing his tense. Talking about “when” is out.
“You can’t really get too caught up in the future,” Barkley said. “We’ve got a great opportunity now. We’ve got to capitalize on that. You’ve got to live in the moment. You’ve got to live in the now.”
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
