In Sunday’s Week 9 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars, Philadelphia Eagles star Saquon Barkley pulled off one of the more impressive highlight plays in recent memory, hurdling a player with his back turned. And it turns out, the NFL wanted to take a deeper look into how he was able to do this.
Barkley made the impossible very possible in the second quarter of Sunday’s game, pulling off a beautiful spin move and then reverse hurdling Jaguars cornerback Jarrian Jones on a 14-yard reception.
SAQUON BARKLEY IS NOT OF THIS WORLD.
📺: #JAXvsPHI on CBS/Paramount+
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/UtCENDw6no— NFL (@NFL) November 3, 2024
You’d be hard-pressed to find a 14-yard reception more impressive from any player this season. And after the game, this highlight play coincidentally led to the NFL deciding to administer a “random” drug test to Barkley.
During an appearance on the Air It Out podcast with AJ Greene and Justin Pugh, Barkley bluntly detailed that he was drug tested after the game, also detailing that he doesn’t plan on attempting the rather dangerous hurdle again.
“I got drug tested right after the game,” said Barkley. “I’m not trying to do that again because of how difficult and dangerous the move was.”
Barkley is certainly no stranger to a highlight play over the course of his seven-year NFL career. But it sure seems the play sparked the NFL’s “random” drug testing policy, which obviously raises questions as to just how random the tests really are…
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.