Saquon Barkley knew when he left the Giants for the Eagles that it would strain the warm relationship he’s always had with Giants fans. But he wishes he had done more to let Giants fans know how much he appreciated their presence in his life for the last six years.
Barkley told Dianna Russini on the Scoop City podcast that he wanted to bid a fond farewell to Giants fans, but after seeing some of them respond negatively on social media to the news that he was leaving for the Eagles, he didn’t give them the full goodbye he had planned on.
“I had a goodbye video to Giants fans — I don’t think I handled that situation right at all,” Barkley said. “I said a quick thank you to the Giants fans, but I actually had a legit response like a goodbye, and I let the hate on Twitter take me away from that, and that was really immature of me, and that’s the one thing about that whole process that I kind of regret. Because Giants fans, still — I know a lot of them hate me or whatever — since the day I got drafted I got a lot of love, I’d see a lot of people in my jersey, I tried to spend as much time as I can with them, show respect because they showed me a lot of respect. So I think I could have definitely said goodbye in a better way. Just being naive and immature, not even thinking that it really mattered that much.”
Giants owner John Mara called Barkley, “the most popular player we have, by far” shortly before Barkley signed with the Eagles. Giants fans will be rooting against Barkley twice a season now, but there’s still a lot of love in both directions.
