A number of NFL players attended the Met Gala this year, including Jalen Hurts, Joe Burrow, Justin Jefferson, and Stefon Diggs. Even Saquon Barkley made an appearance. A few days later, the Super Bowl-winning running back has now shared a step-by-step account of how it all went down for him.
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It wasn’t the first Met Gala Barkley had attended. Back in 2019, he was invited because of his public persona. In hindsight, though, Barkley said he regretted what he wore to the event. It wasn’t a bad look by any means, but he wore a pair of suit shorts that didn’t quite hit the mark.
This time around, Barkley decided to keep his outfit simple with a Thom Browne three-piece tuxedo. But when the event came up on the podcast Exciting Mics with Cooper DeJean and Reed Blankenship, the star running backs’ teammates weren’t much excited about the fit, though they were curious about what actually goes down at the Met.
Thankfully, Barkley had answers.
“You go there, walk the red carpet, blue carpet, there was this year. You take pictures, go inside, it’s a cocktail party, wait for everyone to get in, mingle, and have drinks. Then you go to the next event,” Barkley detailed.
“You have dinner. The dinner was great. They had a chef, it’s really all about black excellence [this year], and they had a chef from the Bronx, and the food was amazing. And then you mingle with brands. Some people go with a fashion brand, some people go with a design jewelry brand, like Cardier. I know Joe [Burrow] went with Cardier,” he added.
It’s a lot that Barkley had to get through. Little did DeJean and Blankenship know how much truly goes on behind the scenes after the red and blue carpet photos are taken. But it only makes sense — it would be silly for a bunch of well-dressed celebrities to attend an event just to take pictures.
Barkley later explained that there’s a live concert that takes place at the event as well. There, he got to see the legend of our time, Stevie Wonder, perform some unforgettable music.
“Basically, all of the top celebrities in the world in one spot. You eat dinner, and then they have the show. The show this year was cool; it was Usher and Stevie Wonder. Yeah, and fun fact, Stevie Wonder is only like 74 years old, I thought he was like 85, in his 90s.”
Barkley went on to explain that guest speakers also came on the stage to explain this year’s theme, which celebrated black excellence. All in all, it sounded like the running back had a great time attending the event.
Furthermore, it was interesting to hear what really goes on at the Met. Most people probably find themselves in the same boat as DeJean and Blankenship — they know what the event is, but don’t know what it actually entails. Well, now you do!
