This fan turned Saquon Barkley’s reverse hurdle into a costume — and won big. Here’s how he did it.
Forty-year-old Jawad Nesheiwat wore a 30-pound Saquon Barkley backwards hurdle costume to New York’s Fanatics Fest.

Walking into the Javits Center during New York’s Fanatics Fest, fans could easily spot Lady Liberty. Hanging above the steps that read “Game On, New York,” was an enormous inflatable of the historic landmark dunking a basketball in one hand, while holding the tablet of law in the other.
But surprisingly, this wasn’t the oddest attraction during the three-day event. When fans weren’t staring at Lady Liberty sporting her favorite pair of red and yellow sneakers, they could peek above the crowd and see a 6-foot-3 Eagles fan carrying a 30-pound mannequin dressed like Saquon Barkley above his head.
After 40-year-old Jawad Nesheiwat saw last year’s ‘Best Dressed Fan,’ a woman dressed as a Buffalo Bills fan jumping through a table, he knew he needed something special to earn the honor, and win tickets to WrestleMania, the Super Bowl, and the World Cup.
“I saw last year’s winner posted and she was creative and at the time, that moment was viral,” he said. “So, I was like, ‘What can I do to kind of create a buzz?’…So, I was at the gym with my wife and I was like, ‘What’s viral?’ and the first thing that popped into my mind was the Saquon hurdle. Then I went home and was like, ‘How could I pull this off?’”
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The Poughkeepsie native instantly started ordering his materials. To complete the look, he ordered the jerseys through Fanatics, and a mannequin from Amazon Prime. Luckily, the former Syracuse tight end also had plenty of duct tape and his children’s old stuffed animals.
“The mannequin came in a few pieces,” Nesheiwat said. “The limbs were detached from the upper and lower body. So, it was hard for me to put him in the hurdle position. So, I honestly took some of the kids’ teddy bears that they don’t use and I kind of put it as a hedge in between the stomach and thighs to kind of give it that angled appearance and started taping it up.”
Nesheiwat attended Sunday’s event in the full get-up, bringing the NFL Madden 25 cover to life. He wore a Trevor Lawrence Jaguars jersey and carried the Barkley mannequin to depict Barkley’s iconic backwards hurdle that took place during Week 9 against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
“Obviously, the hardest part at the Fanatics Fest was walking around with it above my shoulders,” he said. “I wore it for like half the day because my shoulders were burning so much.”
The second hardest part of the day: wearing the Jaguars jersey.
“That made it a little bittersweet, putting on the Jaguars jersey,” Nesheiwat said. “But it was for Saquon.”
As a Syracuse alumnus, Nesheiwat was a big fan of former Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb. Now, his Eagles fandom has earned him tickets to three major sporting events: the Super Bowl, WrestleMania, and the World Cup.
As an avid wrestling fan, he plans to bring his 5-year-old son, Marwan, with him to WrestleMania. For the Super Bowl, he’ll bring his wife, Lena, 39, and he’ll bring his father, Marwan, 69, to the World Cup.
“He is a big soccer fan and for the first time in history, not that they have a chance, my home country, Jordan, has qualified for the World Cup which makes everything a bit more exciting,” Nesheiwat said.
In terms of his costume, he’s still unsure what to do with it next.
“It’s a 6-foot mannequin, so it’s not going anywhere anytime soon,” Nesheiwat said. “Maybe [I’ll bring it back] for Halloween, though.”