The legend of Saquon Barkley refusing to eat McDonald’s lives on: ‘Not even a nugget’

Saquon Barkley goes by many names, including Super Bowl champion. The Eagles running back is known as Shayshawn Barkley, First Play Sa, 2k Sa, and — perhaps Rob Gronkowski’s favorites — Quadzilla and SaQuad Barkley.

“I just really want to see his quads in person,” Gronkowski said on his Dudes on Dudes podcast. “I hope he has short shorts on like he’s in the ‘80s, so I can just stare at them.”

Gronk’s cohost on the show, his former Patriots teammate Julian Edelman, was lucky enough to live Gronk’s dream at the 2019 Met Gala. Barkley made his Met Gala debut wearing an all-black tuxedo with the pants chopped into shorts — and his quads on full display.

“I went to the Met Gala,” Edelman said in a clip that was originally posted during the Eagles’ Super Bowl run in February but resurfaced on a recent episode. “It was me, him, and OBJ [Odell Beckham Jr.]. We were all hanging out because we’re the athletes there and we had a great time. But I saw — he was wearing a skirt — and I saw those [expletive] quads in that and I was like holy [expletive]. I had nightmares. His quads are so [expletive] big and I saw the whole thing, in like a skirt — a kilt.”

(It was actually Beckham in the kilt — but Barkley did have a similar look with his black shorts, so we’ll forgive the error.)

But what fuels Barkley’s quads? We’ll give you a small hint: It’s not McDonald’s.

After the Gala, the trio opted to get a late-night snack. At the time, Edelman and Beckham were veterans in the sport — Edelman entering his 10th season and Beckham entering his sixth. Meanwhile, Barkley was fresh off his rookie season.

“We were having some adult beverages, and me and Odell, we’ve been in the league for a while by that time and we wanted to go to McDonald’s real quick,” Edelman said. “He was such a young kid and he was like, ‘Hey, I don’t eat McDonald’s. You guys eat McDonald’s?’ … He didn’t want it. He didn’t want McDonald’s. He was disciplined.”

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“That’s what makes him great then,” Gronk responded. “Discipline makes you great. … He’s just an all-around great running back. First, second, third down as well. Great work ethic, like you said. You just know he has great work ethic by the workouts that you see that are on the internet. Also the discipline. Not eating McDonald’s at 2 a.m. even being tipsy and even with influences like you trying to get him to eat McDonald’s.”

“Not even a nugget,” Edelman interjected.

“Not even a nugget, not even a McFlurry,” Gronk said. “You kidding me? How can you not even have a spoonful of a McFlurry at 2 a.m.?”

This wasn’t the first time Edelman has spoken of the legend of Barkley refusing McDonald’s. Nine months ago, the former receiver shared the same memory on his podcast Games with Names.

While Barkley doesn’t appear to be a fan of eating fast food, he doesn’t have a problem serving it. Barkley worked a shift at Raising Canes in February after the Eagles’ Super Bowl win.