Saquon Barkley Reverse Hurdle For Madden Cover Leaves NFL Fans Shook: “Did He Float?”

Saquon Barkley might have bettered his reverse hurdle in NFL play while recreating it for the Madden 26 cover.

Saquon Barkley Reverse Hurdle For Madden Cover Leaves NFL Fans Shook: “Did He Float?”

Saquon Barkley on the Madden 26 Cover (Firstsporz Image)

The Philadelphia Eagles put together one of the most dominant NFL seasons of all time in 2024. They rode on the back of only the ninth ever 2000-yard rushing season from Saquon Barkley and went 14-3. In the playoffs, they took down the Green Bay Packers and Los Angeles Rams in exciting fashion. Barkley set a record for most 60-yard touchdown runs in the latter game, blazing through the Rams secondary.

The NFC Championship game against the Washington Commanders proved to be a coming-of-age party of sorts. The Eagles tore the Washington defense to shreds and hung seven touchdowns on them. Even their third-string players kept scoring when they got garbage time minutes later in the game. All the signs should have pointed to an Eagles Super Bowl win for the average viewer, as Skip Bayless had warned.

But people were too hung up on the threepeat storyline around the Kansas City Chiefs’ season. Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce looked destined to achieve where Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski had failed. But real life is different from on paper, and that’s exactly what transpired in the big game. The Eagles held the Chiefs to one first down and eight straight three-and-outs in a beatdown of epic proportions.

Saquon Barkley didn’t have much of a role to play – one of the few times the running back was held in check. But the Eagles’ win catapulted him to a whole different level of fame. While Barkley has been a highly regarded player even during his college career at Penn State and with the New York Giants, his postseason performances, combined with his statistical achievements, have made him a household name.

Most importantly, Barkley now has a career-defining play that will be studied for generations to come. It is so iconic that in casual conversation, the very mention of his name elicits that image. The Eagles were bound to get a player on the Madden 26 cover after their imperious postseason run. And they got the perfect moment to immortalize on the game’s cover with Barkley’s reverse hurdle over Jacksonville.

Barkley posted an Instagram promo that shows how the creators of the EA Sports game recreated his play.

To say that the man flew in the air would not be an exaggeration. At least, not in the eyes of other beholders on the interwebs.

NFL fans’ jaws drop after Saquon Barkley recreates his reverse hurdle

Bleacher Report reposted Barkley’s promo video on X, and the whole of NFL Twitter was absolutely floored by how easy he made it look, and just how surreal his hang time looks. One could argue that Barkley was airborne for even longer on this video than he was during the in-game play against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

NFL fans poured in with their astonished acknowledgements.

Barkley will return to action in the 2025 season as a much more satisfied, iconic and treasured player. What he did in the 2024 NFL season will likely be marked out as the greatest single NFL campaign of all time. Barkley composed a campaign with nearly 2600 scrimmage yards and a golden rush of touchdowns. It may never be touched again. Neither will the iconic nature of his move.

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