Picture this: It is the night of the 2019 NFL Honors. Saquon Barkley has just won Rookie of the Year. Though the 2018-19 season didn’t go as expected for Giants fans, much like their previous seasons, they can rest assured they have found their running back – and something to look forward to on game days.
Barkley set three franchise records for rookies – most rushing touchdowns (11), most rushing yards (1,307), and most total touchdowns (15).
Giants fans were sure they would get that player back in the 2019-2020 season. However, that was not the case. On September 22nd, 2019, Barkley was carted off the field at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. His injury? A sprained ankle that forced him to miss three games.
However, he returned sooner than what fans might have thought. Barkley returned to play on October 6th, 2019, against the Minnesota Vikings.
He even admitted that the healing process relied on a strong mentality.
“I feel like the same way I attack the field is the same way I attack the weight room, training room, and rehab,” Barkley said in an interview with NJ.com.
At the end of his sophomore season, he racked up 1003 yards and 6 touchdowns. It got to the point where fans believed that injury was detrimental to his career. They yearned for the old Barkley. Little did they know they were in for a GIANT surprise.
By the start of the 2020 NFL season, football fans everywhere were excited to see their teams back in action. The year already had its ups and downs with the coronavirus pandemic and ongoing issues of racial injustice. In the midst of all of that, the Giants found a new head coach. What else could go wrong, right?
Well, everything that could go wrong did go wrong. On September 20th, 2020, Barkley suffered a torn ACL vs. the Chicago Bears. Unlike his last ankle injury a year prior, this one kept him out for the season.
Saquon Barkley Injury
It may have been hard for the fans to watch, but it was even harder for him to deal with. “When I hurt my knee, I’m not going to lie, that’s probably the weakest moment of my life, especially in those first few days,” Barkley said on Mike Tyson’s “Hotboxin’ with Mike Tyson” podcast.
Barkley also mentioned in a recent interview with Giants senior writer Michael Eisen that Adrian Peterson had four words of motivation for him: “Stay focused and keep grinding.” Peterson tore his ACL in 2011 during his fifth year with the Minnesota Vikings. He ended the season with only 970 yards, which was his first season under 1000. The season after that was one for the books.
In 2012, Peterson led the NFL with a career-high 2,097 yards and became the league’s Most Valuable Player.
This should be an eye-opener for Giants fans as they await the return of Barkley. They say the third time’s a charm, and this upcoming season will be his third.
This return of two-six might just be his best one yet.
