Saquon Barkley's prior dislike of Eagles makes his historic run even cooler

One year away from the New York Giants, and running back Saquon Barkley is competing in the Super Bowl. The NFL world has not let the Giants and their fanbase forget the fact that the team didn't make an offer for Barkley and allowed him to test out free agency. Immediately, Barkley signed a deal with the rival Philadelphia Eagles. The fit made sense, since Barkley attended college at Penn State, and the Eagles have had a notoriously elite offensive line for years.

But no one could have expected the success Barkley has had in just one year, as he ran for over 2,000 yards, nearly breaking Eric Dickerson's single-season rushing record. Then the playoffs started, and Barkley was just as unstoppable, running for 442 yards and five touchdowns on 66 carries to help lead the Eagles back to the Super Bowl for the second time in three years.

When the Eagles were competing in Super Bowl 57, Barkley was on the Giants. Barkley was on a Giants team that pulled off an upset against the Minnesota Vikings in the Wild Card Round before getting eliminated by the Eagles in the Divisional Round. When the Eagles took on the Kansas City Chiefs in that year's Super Bowl, Barkley admitted he was not cheering for them.

“Of course I was rooting against them,” Barkley said, h/t ProFootballTalk. “They had knocked us out of the playoffs. There was no part of me that wanted the Eagles to win, but it’s funny to look back on it now . . . being here with a lot of those guys that were part of that team.”

Saquon Barkley admits to cheering for Chief over Eagles in Super Bowl 57

Hey, if you were in Barkley's situation at the time, you probably wouldn't cheer for the team that eliminated you from the playoffs. That was the case back then for Barkley, who was still part of the Giants in the very first year with Brian Daboll in charge.

That year, the Eagles were going toe to toe with the Chiefs, even carrying a 24-14 lead into halftime. However, they were unable to stop Kansas City's second-half comeback. What stung worse for the Eagles is a pass interference call on cornerback James Bradberry, which set up what would be Harrison Butker's game-winning, 27-yard field goal.

Barkley making the jump to Philadelphia took some getting used to in the NFL. Let's not forget, Barkley admitted that he "couldn't stand" Eagles heads coach Nick Sirianni when he was on the Giants, but seees now as a member of the team that he is authentic.

Now, Barkley has the chance to help the Eagles get revenge on the Chiefs, who are looking to become the first team ever to win a Super Bowl in three consecutive seasons. Barkley can prevent history from being made, win his first ever Super Bowl title on his birthday. What a moment that would be, seeing Barkley celebrating with the Eagles on Feb. 9.