FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sunday, September 16th, 2018

PETER KING INTERVIEWS SAQUON BARKLEY FOR FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA

Feature to Air on Football Night in America Beginning Sunday at 7 p.m. ET on NBC; Click Here to Watch Preview

“I kind of had doubts for a little bit. I wanted to give up on football.” – Barkley

Sunday Night Football Features New, Earlier 8:20 p.m. ET Kickoff Time

STAMFORD, Conn. – September 16, 2018 – NFL insider Peter King interviews New York Giants rookie RB Saquon Barkley for a feature that will air during tonight’s Week 2 edition of Football Night in America, which begins at 7 p.m. ET on NBC. FNIA leads into Giants-Cowboys on Sunday Night Football, which features a new, earlier 8:20 p.m. ET kickoff time.

The story details Barkley’s transition from the Bronx to Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley, where he became one of state’s top prospects, and the advice his parents gave him when he had doubts about playing football. Coverage will also include Hall of Famer and former Dallas RB Emmitt Smith on the Cowboys-Giants rivalry, and his impressions of RB Ezekiel Elliott and Barkley.

Mike Tirico will host Football Night in America alongside Hall of Fame coach Tony Dungy, two-time Super Bowl winner Rodney Harrison, and NFL insider Mike Florio from NBC Sports’ International Broadcast Center in Stamford, Conn. Liam McHugh will co-host Football Night in America on-site from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Below are excerpts from King’s interview with Barkley and the segment with Smith. If used, please note the mandatory credit: “In an exclusive interview airing on Football Night in America.”

KING’S INTERVIEW WITH BARKLEY

Click here to watch and embed a preview of King’s interview with Barkley.

Barkley on moving from New York to Pennsylvania: “It was huge, especially for the sport of football. (Pennsylvania) football and New York football are just completely different, especially from Lehigh Valley to the Bronx. It just gave me a better opportunity. I’m so thankful and so grateful for that decision and that sacrifice my parents made.”

Barkley on when he thought he would become a football player: “I kind of had doubts for a little bit. I wanted to give up on football … just being immature, selfish, things weren’t going my way. And my father gave me some of the best advice that was ever given to me in my life: ‘Once you quit on one thing, you’re a quitter for the rest of your life.’ That’s when my life just kind of changed for me, when my mentality started changing, when I started really envisioning myself playing in the NFL and playing college football.”

Barkley on purchasing his parents a home: “My family had their own struggles before and that’s something that I thought we never really had. We obviously always had a home but had to pay rent. Now, my mom doesn’t really have to focus on that anymore.”

Alibay Barkley on his son appearing in Madden 2018: “The one thing that I am excited (for), is that my son is on Madden. That’s crazy. To see him in it, he doesn’t have to make a man anymore. He doesn’t have to make himself. He’s there. I’m not going to lie about that one. That’s crazy.”

FNIA’S INTERVIEW WITH SMITH

Smith on Elliott: “In my eyes, I think Ezekiel Elliott is the guy to carry on the running back tradition that the Dallas Cowboys have possessed.”

Smith on Barkley: “Saquon Barkley is just as good. When the Giants selected him, I instantly said to myself, they have just given themselves the best chance to get to the Super Bowl.”

–FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA–