Eagles' Saquon Barkley rocks flashy diamond chain celebrating Madden 26 99 rating

Saquon Barkley is indisputably one of the best running backs in football today - not just in real life, but virtually as well. On Monday, the Philadelphia Eagles' Super Bowl-winning star running back was revealed to be both the cover of EA's Madden NFL 26 and the video game series' newest 99-rated player.

And he had a flashy way of commemorating the latter milestone - with a "99" diamond chain:

Meanwhile, Geno's Steaks, a Philly cheesesteak restaurant in the southerly area of Passyunk Square, had its own way of celebrating his achievement - by renaming itself "Steakquon's" for the week:

And when Barkley visited the place, he was met with a thunderous reaction:

The standard Madden 26 cover depicts Barkley's iconic backwards hurdle during the Eagles' defeat of the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 9. He reacted:

“It means the world to me. I think if you ask any kid out there, if they were able to be on the Madden cover, I think they all would be stoked and say, ‘Yes.’ So for that to come to life is truly amazing. There’s so many legendary players who have been a part of this, and I’m happy to attach my name to those guys too,”

Speaking to ESPN's "SportsCenter", he revealed that recreating the hurdle necessitated being strapped into a harness.

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Saquon Barkley speaks up on running back contracts amidst Madden 26 announcement

2025 has already been shaping up to be a big year for Saquon Barkley. He is coming into the season as a champion, he is gracing a video game cover, and he also received a contract extension not even a year into his current deal.

During that same SportsCenter interview, he "thanked" the Baltimore Ravens' Derrick Henry, who was rewarded for a monstrously dominant debut with a two-year, $30-million extension, for redefining how teams view running backs from a financial perspective:

"I think the biggest one for me is Derrick. They say that running backs can't perform at a high level when they turn 29, when they turn 30. And Derrick Henry just proved that wrong and was able to extend again. So that means a lot for guys like myself and Christian and Josh who are looking to get a third contract."

Barkley and the Eagles begin their title defense against the Dallas Cowboys on Sept. 4. Kickoff is at 8:20 p.m. ET on NBC.