Ben Roethlisberger Trolls the New York Giants in Reaction to Saquon Barkley’s Backward Hurdle

Big Ben and the rest of the NFL world simply can’t let the New York Giants forget their mistake, especially after what Saquon Barkley did on Sunday.

If you haven’t seen the Barkley reverse hurdle from the Philadelphia Eagles’ Week 9 matchup with the Jacksonville Jaguars, oh boy, are you in for treat… Unless you’re a Giants fan.

The Eagles running back, who was allowed to depart the division-rival Giants this offseason, punctuated a whirlwind of a 14-yard catch-and-run in the second quarter of their Week 9 game with the most improbable of moves: a backward hurdle.

Saquon Barkley with a backwards hurdle…other-worldly.

Never seen this in my life!! Wow pic.twitter.com/Zq6EkoQhSj

— Chase Daniel (@ChaseDaniel) November 3, 2024

It was something we’ve never seen at any level of football. (Please, correct us and send us the video if we’re wrong). The play was clearly athletically impressive. However, it’s the gall and confidence of Barkley to even attempt such a maneuver that needs to be studied.

Predictably, the play caused quite a stir not just among fans, but among peers and all-time greats as well. One of the latter group, former Pittsburgh Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger, couldn’t help but poke fun at the Giants’ misfortune when asked on his podcast, Channel Seven, what he thought about when he saw that play.

Podcast Host: What do you think about when you see something like that?
Roethlisberger: I think, ha, hey New York Giants… *snickers* Good move. *laughs* That was one of the most amazing sports feats that I’ve ever seen.

Obviously, Big Ben’s comments were largely praising Barkley. But the fact that the first thing that came to mind when seeing the play was the Giants’ misfortune says a lot. It shows just how bad New York’s decision to let Barkley walk is viewed by the rest of the league.

Big Ben believes we’ll see the reverse hurdle in Madden

When a player does a never-before-seen move or celebration, there’s a good chance it’s ending up in a video game. Most likely Madden. We’ve seen it happen with Justin Jefferson‘s griddy and Odell Beckham Jr.’s one-handed catch a few years back. Could Barkley’s reverse hurdle be up next? Ben Roethlisberger thinks so.

When he hit the guy with the spin move first, that was pretty cool, that was video game-esque, and then he jumped over a dude backwards… Like, you know it’s going to be in Madden next year.

Users heavily criticized the frequency of the OBJ catch animation in Madden. It was a once-in-a-lifetime catch, so every receiver in the game shouldn’t be able to do it, went the logic. If the Barkley hurdle gets added for Madden 25, we can expect similar reservations to be voiced.

The play was something of a cherry on top of Barkley’s explosion in the first half of the season. This followed an offseason when the division-rival Giants refused to pay Barkley a market-level deal. Then, the Eagles swooped in.

New York fans can now only watch with wistful sadness as Barkley’s Eagles sit at 6-2 while New York’s lack of a running game is just one of many reasons they are 2-7. That vast chasm in the teams’ records is likely what made Big Ben think of the G-Men right away.

Barkley is putting up career-highs in yards per rush, yards per game, success rate, and attempts per game this year. He’s also fourth in the NFL in attempts, third in yards per carry, and second in rushing yards.

Giants fans wish he was still in New York, but the City of Brotherly Love seems to suit Saquon Barkley just fine.