The Super Bowl on Sunday Feb. 9 marked a momentous Super Bowl victory for the Philadelphia Eagles, defeating the Kansas City Chiefs by a score of 40-22 and flipping the script on a devastating loss in the same Super Bowl matchup just two years ago. With this, the Eagles put to rest a number of concerns about head coach Nick Sirianni and his future in Philadelphia, quarterback Jalen Hurts’ ability to connect with an elite receiver corps, and the capacity of a depleted Vic Fangio defense to go toe to toe with a Mahomes-led offense boasting an impressive pedigree. Of the questions going into Super Bowl LIX, though, arguably none were more dramatic than that of Saquon Barkley’s jaw-dropping first season in kelly green.
Having been acquired from the rival New York Giants on the first day of free agency leading up to the ‘24-’25 season for a whopping $37 million, sports fans all over the country had a sense that this trade would be special. For Logan Runde ‘27, the assistant director of sports at WVOF, it was only a matter of time before the back’s impact was felt. “The trade was one that was necessary,” he explained, “When you’re talking about Barkley, you’re dealing with a generational running back. So for him to go to a contender was good for him and the NFL.” Like many other Fairfield students this Sunday, Runde got together with some friends to watch the game at a local restaurant in downtown Fairfield.
Through four quarters, Barkley managed 57 rushing yards through 25 attempts and hauled in six of seven targets for another 40 yards, failing to score. While the running back’s stat line in the Super Bowl may not have been as eye-catching as many of his regular season performances, his role was pivotal in the Eagles’ success. “He didn’t have the breakout game we are used to seeing but that wasn’t expected of him,” Runde explained in his analysis, “The Chiefs’ defensive line is one of the best in football and it was clear that they were selling out on the run.” As a result, Runde explains, the pass game was able to open up for what was essentially the first time all season.
Though at a glance, 57 yards on the ground is unimpressive, it tacked onto a total 2,504 yards since week one, the most by a running back in NFL history. Combine this with an Offensive Player of the Year award, First Team All-Pro bid, seven touchdown runs of 60 yards or more (to the rest of the league’s combined 10), being just the second player in NFL history to record 400 rushing yards and five touchdowns in a single postseason, and a Lombardi Trophy, and a case could be made for this being the best running back season of all time. In a recent episode of ESPN’s “Get Up,” host Mike Greenberg agrees. After defeating the Washington Commanders in the NFC Championship, he explained “Saquon Barkley, you could make an argument and defend it, is having the greatest season a running back has ever had,” for a team that “desperately needed it.” For Greenberg, a Super Bowl victory would be the icing on the cake.
Senior Grace Sarian, a Philadelphia native and self-proclaimed Eagles fanatic who “bleeds green forever” drove home to watch the Super Bowl with family. For her, Barkley is the best thing to happen to the organization in a long time. “It was a fantastic trade for the Eagles and over-exceeded the expectations placed on him this season,” Sarian reflected, “Besides Jalen Hurts I would give him MVP.”
Not everyone looks back on this breakthrough season as fondly, though. “I wish the Giants didn’t trade Saquon,” Quinn Mckeon ‘25, a lifelong Giants fan, remarked bluntly as he echoed the sentiments of countless others mourning the loss of a generational player. What’s more, the trade was to a divisional rival and now Super Bowl champion. Despite this, he still had to give the former Giant his flowers, “Saquon had a great season and a well-deserved Super Bowl win,” Mckeon continued, “but I still wish the Chiefs three-peated.”
In many ways, great is an understatement. Since the breakout win against the Packers in week one that saw Barkley lead the team with 109 yards and three touchdowns, Barkley has made his voice heard. Whether students were watching on their couches at home, huddled around dorm room televisions, or packed into booths along Post Road, Super Bowl LIX was a historic one. With it, fans have seen arguably the best running back season in history and the beginning of the Saquon Barkley era in Philadelphia.
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