Former teammates and Penn State students share Saquon Barkley stories: ‘A special way of bringing others with him’
Saquon Barkley’s former teammates Tommy Stevens and Fred Hansard talk about the running back before the fame
Before Lincoln Financial Field, there was Beaver Stadium. Before the midnight green, there was blue and white. Before “Fly, Eagles Fly,” there was “We Are Penn State.” This may be the first time Eagles fans have seen glimpses Saquon Barkley’s greatness, but Nittany Lions fans — especially those who knew him from his time at in Happy Valley — are less surprised.
When he wasn’t ripping apart opposing defenses, a young Barkley would spend weekends at Penn State playing NBA2K with teammates quarterback Tommy Stevens and offensive tackle Sterling Jenkins. One night, before heading out to dinner, Stevens beat Barkley. Instead of leaving with Stevens, the then-freshman running back said, “No, I’m going to stay here and get better at this game so I can beat you in it,” Stevens recalled.
“Looking back, there were early signs that he could be special,” Stevens said. “His competitive nature in something as small as video games, those were things you could look back on and know that he was going to be special. Add that with his freakish God-given abilities and good things will happen.”
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From a close friend, to a younger teammate who looked up to him, to a waitress who happened to interact with him on a few occasions, those we spoke with who knew Barkley at Penn State shared the same sentiments: he was humble, competitive, and would always lift up those around him.
‘I ran away from his shadow’
Stevens was in the same 2015 recruiting class as Barkley and was at Penn State for the running back’s entire three years before Barkley was drafted in 2018. A year later, Stevens transferred to Mississippi State for his final season.
Stevens knew Barkley was different after their very first summer workout. It was a player-led practice that included seven-on-sevens and player-specific drills. Christian Hackenberg was still the starting quarterback at the time and seen as the face of the program. Meanwhile, Barkley had just arrived on campus.
“It didn’t take much to realize he was going to be special very quickly.”
Barkley dropped a pass from Hackenberg and it obviously bugged him, Stevens recalled. After practice, Barkley walked up to Hackenberg and said, “Hey, man. I need you to throw that ball to me until it’s how I like it.” That job was passed onto the younger quarterbacks at the time, Stevens and Trace McSorley. But the following week, a relentless Barkley did the same thing — he approached Hackenberg and asked if he would stay after and watch some tape together.
“That was able to put him on the field as a true freshman. That started everything,” Stevens said. “It didn’t take much to realize he was going to be special very quickly.”
Stevens witnessed the two-time Big Ten offensive player of the year revitalize the program, leading the Nittany Lions to a 2016 Big Ten title, and Rose Bowl and Fiesta Bowl appearances in his final two seasons.
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But it wasn’t the insane acrobatic moves that impressed Stevens most — well maybe a little — it was Barkley’s leadership.
“The things that he did to elevate other players and make everyone feel important regardless of how big or how small of a role you had,” Stevens said. “He had a special way of bringing others with him. The things you see with him now in Philly, the way he interacts with other players there. Those were the same kinds of things he was doing at Penn State.
“I tell him all the time, there’s no question he’s the best player I’ve ever played with. I’m biased, but I think he’s the best running back of all-time and that’s probably the title right there.”
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Before Barkley was hurdling backward over NFL defenders on Sundays, he was putting on similar shows on Saturdays. In 2016 against Iowa, Barkley pulled off an eerily similar reverse hurdle. And in a 2017 win over Pitt, he again appeared to have eyes in the back of his head after hauling in a pass from McSorley, the team’s starting quarterback from 2016-18..
Running in a direct sprint toward the end zone, Barkley looked like he was about to get caught by a defender who was directly behind him. Instead, Barkley suddenly darted toward the left instead and made his way into the end zone.
“If I had ten of those [‘Damn, I’ll never see that again’] instances in my life, at least five of them have to do somehow with him.”
“He comes over to the sideline, and I’m like, ‘Yo, how did you know that guy was there?’ And he looked at me dead in my face, didn’t take time to think about it, and he was like, ‘Well, I ran away from his shadow,’” Stevens said. “I didn’t exactly believe him, and sure enough the PSU account puts up the video and you can literally see him looking at the ground. He sure as [expletive] ran away from the shadow.
“To have the presence of mind to even think about that, in that moment, in a high-pressure situation is again something different, to say the least.”
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Barkley set the record for most all-purpose yards in a career, the most rushing touchdowns, and most total yards in a game at Penn State. And this season he became the ninth NFL player to rush for 2,000 yards in a season, finished 101 yards shy of Eric Dickerson’s all-time record, and has a chance Sunday to break Terrell Davis’ mark for rushing yards in a season, including the postseason.
But none of this comes as a surprise to Stevens.
“Each person can list five or ten things in their lifetime where they’ll be like, ‘Damn, I’ll never see that again. That was something I’ll never be able to experience again,’” Stevens said. “If I had ten of those instances in my life, at least five of them have to do somehow with him.”
Making a good first impression with mom
Defensive tackle Fred Hansard didn’t spend too much time with Barkley, but the interactions they did have were memorable for the now-26-year-old. Hansard was a freshman during Barkley’s final year at Penn State in 2017. He grew up a Florida Gators fan and committed to the team, but then he began to see how Penn State was improving and developed a relationship with coach James Franklin.
He also watched Barkley play — and ultimately changed paths and committed to Penn State.
“My mom was like ‘No, I’m taking this picture’ ... and he was really nice to my parents and that’s just a moment I will never forget.”
“[In] 2016, just seeing what he was doing, I was kind of like, ‘This guy is kind of crazy, I kind of want to be his teammate,” Hansard said. “My official visit was the Michigan State game in 2016, which actually sent them to the Big Ten championship. And that was such a big part of me committing to Penn State because I felt like the program was stepping in the right direction, and it was just a great place for me to be.”
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A young freshman at the time, Hansard said he’ll never forget his first interaction with Barkley. During his official visit, he was touring the Morgan Academic Center where Barkley just happened to be.
“My mom [Roxanne] was like, ‘I want to say hi,’ and I was trying to be cool and play it off, like he’s just a regular guy,” Hansard said. “But my mom was like ‘No, I’m taking this picture.’ My mom went up to him and he was really nice to my parents and that’s just a moment I will never forget. My mom was my No. 1 supporter, but she always supported Saquon in everything he did. So, it was pretty cool for her.”
Hansard said all of the younger players always enjoyed seeing the way Barkley, a star by that point, handled himself on and off the field. He remembers how humble the running back was throughout all of his success at Penn State.
“I remember walking from class and I had a workout at the Lasch Building, and I had to hurry up and get to the building,” Hansard recalled. “I remember I was walking and then randomly he drove by and was like, ‘Hey, do you need a ride to the Lasch Building?’ I was surprised and was like, wow, this is pretty dope.‘
“Little things like that, it means a lot. Some things like that are just so small but as a freshman and seeing the older guy willing to stop and take you to workouts was pretty awesome.”
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‘We feel like we’ve been part of this journey’
No matter who you were, Barkley seemed to treat everyone the same — even if you weren’t a teammate. Madison Baer, whose story about Barkley went viral recently, is a former waitress at the local bar Champs in downtown State College. She waited on Barkley a handful of times, and although the running back tried to keep a low profile, news traveled fast. Within an hour, fans would begin sending Barkley food and drinks.
Baer, who graduated from Penn State in 2017, remembers Barkley would leave extra tip money for all of the items she would bring over from others, even though he never saw a bill.
“Even in just my tiny experience having interacted with him, it was just so nice” Baer said. “Kindness is so surprising and it shouldn’t be. He was so nice. I think that just added to the experience, right? You feel more willing to rally behind somebody who is a person worth rallying behind. It helps solidify that you’re getting behind the right person because they’re a good person.”
Despite all of running back’s success at Penn State, Barkley never reached a College Football Playoff and finished fourth in Heisman voting in 2017, behind winner Baker Mayfield, Bryce Love, and 2016 Heisman winner Lamar Jackson. Now, Baer says Nittany Lions fans are just happy to see him fulfill his potential.
“He clearly represented our school with a lot of pride and that really meant a lot to us,” Baer said. “So then, for his time at Penn State to come to an end and he didn’t get a national championship, he didn’t get a Heisman, Penn Staters everywhere were waiting for him to go and have the NFL career that he deserves because he gave us so much.
“To see him go and have this season, I think there are a lot of Penn Staters who are very proud because we feel like we’ve been part of this journey and we just want to see him thrive and do well and it’s great to see that’s actually happening.”