Penn State in the NFL: Former Lion placed on NFI list; Saquon Barkley talks career longevity
It’s no secret that running backs are treated differently in the NFL than many of their teammates are. Concerns about durability and career longevity have cost some players money and others additional contracts. Saquon Barkley knows about it all too well. After being franchise-tagged in New York and dealing with long-term negotiations there that never worked out following his time at Penn State, he signed with the Philadelphia Eagles this offseason. By all accounts, he’s enjoying his new home in the NFC East. But, he has no problem being blunt about how long his time in the pros will last.
“Marcus Allen played until he was 36, 37 years old,” Barkley, 27, recently told The Philadelphia Inquirer. “Some of the greats that I admire and I look up and study, they played well into their 30s. Barry (Sanders) left at 29, 30 and he left in his prime. It’s what you put in, what you put in is what you get out. That’s any position. There’s this weird thing with running backs right now. Is it a difficult position to play? Yes. Do you take wear and tear? Yes. But who are you or anyone else to tell me how long I can play the game? I call [BS].
“When it’s over for me, it’s over for me. But I feel like if I continue to put the right stuff in my body and do the right things, there will be a day when I’m 32 or 33, and I want to hang it up, and I’m going to do it just because.”
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Barkley is spot on. While getting to a second contract is harder for running backs than most, let alone a third, it does not mean that every player who lines up in the back field behind or beside the quarterback is destined to be a super short timer at then next level. In fact, in Barkley’s specific case, his latest landing spot might help further his career as much as the work he puts in on his body on and off the field. The Eagles have plenty of other weapons to mix and match with the Penn State alum.
“For me, it’s simple,” Barkley said. “When I’m on the field, I’m one of the best, if not the best. I just have to stay on the field. Knock on wood, it’s not injuries like a pulled hamstring or something like that, I tore my knee and I had two or three high ankle sprains that sat me out. … Everything I want is still there. Everything I wanted to accomplish, I can still go out there and do it. I just have to believe in myself and go to work. If it doesn’t happen, it wasn’t in the cards, but every day I’m going to try to climb up that mountain and try to make it to the top.”
A question facing one former Lion as rookies report
NFL rookies on multiple teams reported to training camp Tuesday. Many more will do so before the end of the week. However, one Penn State alum who won’t do so at 100 percent, it seems, is first-year Baltimore Ravens edge rusher Adisa Isaac. The team put him on its non-football injury list Monday. NFL Network reports that his time on it might be short. But, there are not yet many specifics regarding how long he could be out for ahead of his initial NFL season.
“Isaac, a 2024 third-round pick, has dealt with a hamstring issue since Baltimore’s rookie minicamp back in May, and it’s now been declared a non-football injury,” CBS Sports writes. “The details of Isaac’s injury currently remain undisclosed, as does a timetable for his return, but if he’s forced to miss a substantial portion of training camp, the rookie out of Penn State could have a difficult time ultimately carving out a role in a deep edge rusher rotation that already boasts Odafe Oweh, Kyle Van Noy and David Ojabo (knee).”
