Saquon Barkley got to ‘indulge in the Philly culture’ and sling cheesesteaks for Eagles fans at ‘Steakquon’s’
Barkley appeared at Geno’s Steaks, which has been rebranded “Steakquon’s” after the Eagles star landed on the cover of “Madden.”
No one posted publicly that Saquon Barkley would be appearing at Geno’s Steaks’ Steakquon’s rebrand, but fans quickly flocked there Monday after pictures surfaced online.
After stopping by earlier in the day, 68-year-old Angelo Cotelli went home and made a “Steakquon Barkley” shirt of his own, complete with Barkley’s signature hurdle, now the cover of Madden NFL 26.
“The workers said, ‘You can’t get one of them because it’s from EA Sports,’” Cotelli said. “I said to them, ‘I’ll be back in 10 minutes with my own,’ and when they saw me, they said, ‘How’d you do that?’ I said, ‘I know somebody.’”
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Cotelli, a part-time bootleg shirt seller on 9th Street, wasn’t the only fan who came out to see Barkley, who arrived at Geno’s at around 5:30 p.m. Ian Owens, who lives near the restaurant in South Philly, came with his Super Bowl LIX Barkley jersey, hoping to get it signed by the Madden 26 cover star. But everyone hoping for anything signed by Barkley was in for a long wait.
Steakquon’s was fully decked out with a leaping Barkley on top of the restaurant hurdling a cheesesteak; a large replica of the cover where fans could pose as Jaguars defensive back Jarrian Jones, the person over whom Barkley hurdled; and two little hurdling Barkleys on top of the stanchions separating the block from the street — both of which were stolen by the time Barkley left Monday night.
Barkley’s backward hurdle might have felt inevitable to some as the future Madden cover right after it happened. It looked like a play from a video game, but Barkley, who joked that he should have been on the cover after his rookie year in 2018 but was snubbed for Patrick Mahomes, didn’t even think about it until he was presented with the opportunity to be on the cover in March.
He could barely believe he’d hit the move himself until he watched it on tape, and he was nervous preparing to attempt it again for the cover shoot.
“When I had to go recreate it, I realized, I was like, ‘This is actually kind of hard. I don’t even trust myself doing this,’” Barkley said Monday. “I had to strap into wires and a harness and do the move, which was pretty cool, and it made me grow so much respect for action movies and superhero movies because the moves that they’re doing and landing, it’s not as easy as it looks.”
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Something else that’s not as easy as it looks? Making a cheesesteak, which Barkley attempted in front of a massive crowd.
“My second career is probably not going to be making cheesesteaks,” Barkley said jokingly.
The NFL offensive player of the year only found out about the size of the event on Monday morning, when teammate Lew Nichols drove past and took a photo for him. Geno’s also featured custom Barkley souvenir cups and steak bags, plus “The Hurdle,” a cheesesteak special with whiz and a souvenir hurdle cup.
“To get here and see [Steakquon’s], you never know what to expect, right?” Barkley said. “You see all that up there, and you see all the fans that showed up, it’s been pretty cool. I think it’s a great idea what Madden did, to be able to have us indulge in the Philly culture.”
Barkley taped an episode of Green Light with former Eagle Chris Long, and DeSean Jackson also was on-site for the festivities. After more than two hours, Barkley, finally free of his obligations, came out and signed for the large group of fans who’d gathered for hours to meet him and celebrate the cover.
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The fans weren’t worried about the potential Madden cover curse — “In the past I would’ve been, but not with Saquon. He’s got the juice,” Owens said.
Barkley wasn’t, either.
“If anything, I feel like I ran out of curses,” Barkley said. “I’ve been injured a lot. Tore my knee, had multiple ankle injuries. It’s part of the game, it’s part of football, and one that I can do is train and get myself ready to perform at a high level for my team. I can only control what I can control. I’m not focused on the Madden curse. I’m focused on being on Madden and the opportunity of being on the cover of Madden and attaching my name to icons and legends.”