Exclusive | Dave Gettleman thrilled for Saquon Barkley as his unreal Eagles year hits Super Bowl 2025: In the right place
NEW ORLEANS — Dave Gettleman was watching at his winter home in New Jersey on Nov.3 when Saquon Barkley caught a pass from Jalen Hurts, juked one defender, spun around another defender and then did the unexpected: a split-leg, backward leap over Jaguars cornerback Jarrian Jones. That vault on the stat sheet went down as a 14-yard gain.
That highlight is a top contender for offensive play of the year in the NFL and added to Barkley’s burgeoning stardom. “I will say this, I certainly didn’t expect him to turn around and leap over a guy,’’ Gettleman told The Post on Wednesday.“I was watching the game live and I was like ‘You got to be s–ting me.’ ’’ It is a nod to how magnificent a season Barkley fashioned in his first year with the Eagles that he was actually able to stun Gettleman, the man who brought Barkley to the Giants amid uncommon and — some would say — over the top fanfare.
It was Gettleman in the 2018 NFL Draft who decided to go unconventional and take a running back out of Penn State with the No.2 overall pick.It was Gettleman — the Giants general manager at the time — who one month before that selection said, “We really have to picture this guy putting on a gold jacket,’’ meaning if the choice was Barkley, the expectation was for him to one day make the Hall of Fame. And it was Gettleman who on the night Barkley became a member of the Giants proclaimed, “He was touched by the hand of God, frankly,’’ and added, “I haven’t seen a guy like this in a long time, and I’ve been running around doing this for 30-plus years.
He is the unanimous best player in the draft.’’ Gettleman’s rhetoric could have been characterized as overheated hyperbole during too much of Barkley’s six years with the Giants, as injuries, horrid offensive line play, lousy quarterback play and three head coach regimes all conspired against him.Forget about the hand of God; he was too often touched by the hands of defensive line...