Saquon Barkley: ‘I Don’t Want To Be Remembered As Just A Football Player’
Saquon Barkley outlined his plans for the future and discussed the mark he’d like to leave on the community in a post on The Players Tribune Thursday. The former Penn State star and NFL rookie sensation described his intentions in terms of three roles and what he called The Anchor-Mentor-Father Plan.
“I want to be one of those people who a parent can be like, ‘This guy was one of those guys who did it the right way,'” Barkley said. “When I look back at my life and my career, I don’t want to be remembered as just a football player. I want to be remembered for having an impact on people. It can be one person or 5,000 people.”
Barkley said that world view has been shaped by the birth of his own daughter, Jada, who was born days before the New York Giants selected him No. 2 overall. He described in detail one of the first interactions he had with his daughter shortly after she was born. He said just holding her made the future flash before his eyes, while he thought about changing her diapers, teaching her to drive, and one day walking her down the aisle.
“Having a daughter definitely changes how you look at your future and how you think,” he said. “As a father, it’s an exciting thing to watch your child grow. I’m very excited to see who my daughter will become — whether she wants to play soccer, do something with school, or become the first woman president. The actions I do now and continue to do throughout my life will help impact her.”
Looking toward the future has helped Barkley, a former journalism major at Penn State, identify some of his post-football aspirations, which include becoming a sports broadcaster. He explained that he’d love to stay closely involved with football even after his playing career ends and dreams of calling games on Sunday and Monday Night Football.
Before that though, he’d like to return to Penn State to finish his degree and show his daughter “that daddy is much more than just a football player.”
“I still get people who ask me what I got my degree in, or what year I graduated,” he wrote. “And it makes me uncomfortable because, I don’t like my answer. ‘Oh … I, uh … I didn’t actually … you know … uh … graduate yet.’ I hate having to answer that way.”
Barkley also hopes to one day open a gym where children can play sports and find what they’re passionate about. He related his vision for the gym to his own childhood when his father encouraged him to follow in his own footsteps as a boxer but let him forge his path, which ended up being on the football field. Doing so seems to have worked out so far for Barkley.
“I want to give them the opportunity to develop them as athletes and as people,” he said. “That’s how I see myself giving back. Through kids. I want to be a positive role model…I want to spread my knowledge around and pass on the lessons I’ve learned to the next generation.
Although Barkley has his sites on life at home and career after football, make no mistake, he still has plenty of aspirations on the gridiron.
“If I’m able to do that — and maybe win a couple of Super Bowl rings along the way ?? — that’d be more than enough for me,” he said.
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