Exclusive | Saquon Barkley delivered free truckloads of Bud Light after pitch from local beer distributor: source

The idea for Philadelphia Eagles star Saquon Barkley to gift truckloads of Bud Light to his teammates was the brainchild of a local Anheuser-Busch distributor, The Post has learned. The highly-publicized stunt last week was the latest move to rehab the brand’s image after the Dylan Mulvaney fiasco — and followed parent company Anheuser-Busch’s massive ad splurge for this year’s big game, experts said.Barkley was filmed shot-gunning a can of beer in the Eagles’ locker room following their rout of the two-time defending champion Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX on Feb.9. The video of the beer-chugging Barkley went viral and a source with knowledge of the situation told The Post that it inspired local distributor Penn Beer, of Hatfield, Pa., to reach out to the former Giants running back, who jumped to the hated rivals and rushed for an NFL-high 2,005 yards during the season.“How would you like to thank your offensive linemen with beer,” Penn Beer’s owners, the Funchion family, suggested to Barkley, according to the source.The Funchions “took great pride in this win and in Saquon, who is a Penn State alum,” the source added.Barkley jumped at the the idea.The day before Philly fans toasted their Eagles at the Super Bowl parade on Feb.

14, five Bud Light-branded trucks delivered the suds to Barkley’s path-clearing linemen: Cameron Jurgens, Lane Johnson, Mekhi Becton, Jordan Mailata and Landon Dickerson.Each truck carried some 90 cases of Bud Light, about 2,160 cans, a few more brews than the amount of yards Barkley had amassed during his stellar regular season.

Along with the trucks, the beers were rebranded “Bird Light” to honor the Eagles as part of the PR blitz.“It just takes a spark like this to help Bud Light come back at the local level,” Bump Williams, who runs an eponymous consulting firm, told The Post.It’s not clear who paid the approximate $11,000 tab for the 10,800 cans of beer, but it’s likely that Anheuser-Busch co...