Saquon Barkley took to Twitter to blast New York Giants fans Thursday night. They believed they had been given another reason to be angry at him and he urged them to get over it.
Barkley was at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia as the 76ers took on the New York Knicks in Game 6 of their first round NBA playoff series. A newly-minted member of the Philadelphia Eagles, Barkley was there to cheer on the Sixers as they attempted to keep the series alive.
Giants fans couldn’t believe he was in attendance rooting on a rival and made a big stink about it on social media. In response to the hate he was getting online, Barkley tweeted the following.
After six seasons with the Giants, the two-time Pro Bowler left the franchise to join the rival Eagles this offseason. After years of attempting to get a long-term contract out of the Giants, Philadelphia handed him a three-year, $37.75 million deal and he jumped on it. Barkley grew up in Pennsylvania and starred at Penn State, so the move to Philly is also something of a homecoming.
When a Giants fan accused Barkley of bailing on New York, he had a sharp reply. The 27-year-old running back said, “Let me educate some of you fans here… I can’t bail or become a traitor if I never got an offer to come back… so I went to the organization I felt that was the best and after already being here for a month man I’m excited to be a eagle ! Go birds.”
He does have a point. The relationship with the Giants felt broken when the two sides couldn’t agree to a long term deal for more than a year. He played the 2023 season on the non-exclusive franchise tag and New York showed no urgency to lock him up. Maybe he’s right that Giants fans should hurry up and get over his departure.
