Why Saquon’s ‘selfless’ act meant so much to Eagles’ rookie running back

Why Saquon’s ‘selfless’ act meant so much to Eagles’ rookie running back originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

When Nick Sirianni sat next to Saquon Barkley in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s blowout win over the Giants, Barkley was just 13 rushing yards away from his career high.

The Eagles’ head coach wanted to give Barkley the option of going for that record against his former team but also wanted to tell him about his plans to take out the other starters.

Barkley didn’t hesitate to come out of the game.

“It’s all good,” Barkley said. “I’d rather see the young boys eat.”

That meant a lot to rookie running back Will Shipley. Because that selfless decision from Barkley paved the way for the fourth-round pick to get the first carries of his young NFL career.

“That means the world,” Shipley said on Wednesday. “It doesn’t surprise me just because the short time I’ve been around Saquon, that’s exactly who he is. He’s selfless. He is just a great mentor and a great person to look after and a great role model. It’s who he is as a leader. I see it every single day in that running back room. Along with that, everybody in that running back room would do the same thing. Saquon is in that position.

“For him to give me that opportunity, I’ll forever be grateful for him. Those were my first-ever carries in the NFL. I’ll remember that moment for the rest of my life. For him to have the chance to break records and hit his PRs and to give me that, I don’t think it’s fully settled in yet what that means. But I just know that I got a lot of appreciation for him and it doesn’t surprise me. That’s exactly who he is and who I’ve spent time with the last couple months.”

Barkley doesn’t have a “C” on his chest with the Eagles like he did when he was still with the Giants, but he’s clearly the leader of the Eagles’ running back room.

And a moment like the one we saw on Sunday can have an effect on the entire team.

“Yeah, I think people really respect Saquon because of the person he is, the leader he is, the player that he is,” Sirianni said. “And I think that it just shows selflessness, just caring about the team. And that’s what he’s been since he’s been here, and that’s what he’s been since he’s probably been ten years old and playing football.

“I think that guys respect that, and we try to point those things out any time they happen with the selflessness. Because that’s part of being a team.”

Barkley finished the game with 17 carries for 176 yards and a touchdown and might have smashed his career-high of 189 had the game been closer. His backup Kenny Gainwell had a nice game too with 56 yards on 13 carries.

Gainwell was sitting on the bench right next to Barkley in the clip. He watched the whole scene play out in real time.

“It was very inspirational and that’s something that a leader will do,” Gainwell said. “Every leader doe the same thing. It’s a selfless moment and that’s just the way he’s built.”

Entering Sunday’s game, Shipley had played just five total offensive snaps this season and four of them came in the season opener in Brazil. He played just one offensive snap in the four games before facing the Giants.

So it was a big deal to get nine snaps on Sunday. His eight carries went for just 15 yards behind a backup offensive line in an obvious run situation but it was still a big moment for him. And it was even more special because his parents, brother and uncle were in the stands at MetLife Stadium.

“Oh, I’m still just kind of digesting it,” Shipley said. “You work for something your whole life and you get out there. Preseason is preseason. But you’re out there, real time in MetLife. You get those opportunities you’ve worked for your whole life, it’s sentimental. It’s something I’ll remember for the rest of my life for sure.”

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