Eagles RBs Saquon Barkley and LeSean McCoy share a mutual respect

As the star running back at Whitehall High School, Saquon Barkley grew up learning the lore of LeSean McCoy.

More than 80 miles southwest of Harrisburg and nearly a decade earlier, McCoy drew attention to Bishop McDevitt. He set the school single-game record for rushing yards (406) as a sophomore and the school single-season record for rushing yards (2,828) as a sophomore. junior. Considering both players’ roots in the state, from high school to college and the NFL, Barkley has a unique perspective on the significance of McCoy’s upcoming induction into the Eagles Hall of Fame on Sunday.

“It’s kind of cool for him to be inducted into the Eagles Hall of Fame,” Barkley said Thursday. “Be a PA guy, Bishop, Pitt – we’ll let that one slide that he went to Pitt – and then play for Philly and have such a dominant performance and career here to be in the Hall of Fame. It’s like a dream of many children. For him to make that happen and be able to witness that this Sunday is pretty amazing.”

Long before entering the NFL himself, Barkley witnessed the highlights of McCoy’s career with the Eagles from 2009 to 2014. The performance that Barkley believes epitomizes McCoy’s skills was the snow game win over the Detroit Lions in 2013. As a winter storm turned Lincoln Financial Field into a snow globe and the gridiron into a Slip ‘N Slide, McCoy rushed to a single-game franchise-best 217 yards, including 57- and 40-yard touchdowns.

According to Barkley, that game encapsulated everything McCoy was about on the field, including his ability to make defenders miss in the open field.

“There’s just no one… him and Barry (Sanders), probably,” Barkley said. “I don’t know anyone else who cut like that. Stop for a dime.”

The brotherhood of current and former NFL running backs is a tight-knit one, but Barkley said he and McCoy became even closer when the 27-year-old running back signed with the Eagles this offseason after six seasons with the New York Giants. . Over the summer, Barkley and McCoy organized a PittPenn State rivalry charity golf outing at Galloway National Golf Club, just outside Atlantic city.

As Barkley reflected on the experience, he threw some shade at the man affectionately known as “Shady,” calling him bad at golf. But Barkley is self-aware and admits he’s terrible, too. Even though they may not be golf professionals, Barkley said he enjoys spending time with McCoy and talking football.

The respect is mutual: McCoy enjoyed seeing Barkley sign in the city he called home for the first six years of his NFL career.

“He was super excited for me,” Barkley said. “I felt like this could be a good place for me, especially the part I’m at in my career. I think he’s been right so far.”

Wilson provides inspiration for Sirianni’s message

Nick Sirianni often includes motivational messages in his team meetings. Last week, he couldn’t take credit for his latest mantra making the rounds on social media a video released by the team.

“I can’t be great without the greatness of others, period,” Sirianni said during the team meeting on Saturday the night before the Bengals’ game. “The offense can’t be great unless the defense is great. The defense can’t be great unless the offense is great. I cannot be great without the greatness of others. That’s what it always comes down to, right? Sometimes you, sometimes me, always us.”

Johnny Wilson served as Sirianni’s muse for that last line. The sixth-round rookie receiver sports long- and short-sleeved shirts with the mantra written in small letters above the chest. The shirts were released by Nike in collaboration with rapper and singer Drake as part of a collection of basketball clothing called ‘NOCTA’.

Wilson found the clothing line through an advertisement on Instagram. Although he wasn’t entirely sure what Drake had to do with the motivational message, it still resonated with him.

“Sometimes you, sometimes me, always us,” Wilson said. “I’ve just always been big on the team. At the end of the day you can play a great game. If we lose, we all lose.”

The 6-foot-1, 228-pound receiver has worn the jerseys at the facility in recent weeks. Wilson thought Sirianni first noticed the message when Wilson wore it during warm-ups the day before practice, without his shoulder pads on. However, after practice, Sirianni informed him that he had noticed it before.

“He always has good sayings, but he’s never heard this one,” Wilson said. “So I reminded him. But I think he has already seen it.”

The slogan matched Sirianni’s message for the meeting about the importance of the team as a collective, a theme that both the head coach and Jalen hurts have continued since training camp.

“In football it always comes down to who is the strongest,” Sirianni said on Wednesday. “It always comes down to who is the most detailed. And it always comes down to who has the best team. And I don’t mean players, I mean team, right? That will never change in football.”

Wilson doesn’t have any other shirts with inspirational messages in his wardrobe that Sirianni could use as inspiration for future team meetings, but that could change in the future.

“I’m going to build on it later,” he said.

The Eagles play the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 9. Join the Eagles as reporters Olivia Reiner and EJ Smith break down the hottest storylines surrounding the team on Playday Centrallive from Lincoln Financial Field.