Saquon Barkley, running back for the Philadelphia Eagles, is opening up about the pressures and joys of fatherhood.
Barkley and his fiancée Anna Congdon are parents to two children, 7-year-old daughter Jada, and 3-year-old son Saquon Jr.
The father of two spoke with interviewer Craig Melvin about his new Prime documentary, Saquon, on the October 7 episode of Today, where the two got into a discussion about Barkley’s relationship with his kids.
“You said ‘when you name your boy after yourself it puts more pressure on you.’ What do you mean by that?” Melvin asked.
“It’s just a different level,” Barkley responded in the clip from the show.
He then went on to explain that having kids in general changes your perspective on life, and that his son asking questions about the two of them sharing a name reminds him of their connection and how his son looks up to him.
“It literally just brightens up your day and just, you know, put[s] a fire in your heart,” Barkley said about having these conversations with his son.
Barkley’s career as an NFL player may be extremely demanding, but he always does whatever he can to prioritize his family.
“I want to be a great football player, but … When you have those kids and you see those kids grow up, you realize that there’s so much more important things in this world than how well you run a football,” he said in a September 19 interview with Good Morning America.
Barkley’s new documentary will go behind the scenes of both his professional and personal life. Spanning a five-year period of his life, the film showcases his transition from the New York Giants to the Eagles, the Eagles subsequent Super Bowl win, his everyday moments with his partner and kids, and more.
Saquon will be available to stream on Prime on October 9.
