Eagles' Saquon Barkley hints NFL retirement will be sudden and come 'out of nowhere'

After eclipsing the 2,000-yard rushing mark during the 2024 regular season, Saquon Barkley was named the cover athlete for "Madden NFL 26."

Barkley signed with the Philadelphia Eagles last offseason. His historic first year in Philly earned him Pro Bowl and All-Pro honors. By all accounts, the 28-year-old will enter the 2025 season in the prime of his career. However, the star running back recently hinted that when he does eventually step away from the game, it could be sudden. 

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During a recent appearance on former NFL player Chris Long's "Green Light Podcast," Barkley was asked if he would step away while he was still at the peak of his career or if he would stick around.

"I'll probably [be] one of those guys that it would be out of nowhere," Barkley responded in reference to his eventual retirement. "I'll probably just wake up one day, whether it's next year or two years or four years and just be like, 'Yeah, it's over.' I don't think I will ever lose that passion."

Barkley then cited Pro Football Hall of Famer Barry Sanders' shocking decision to walk away from the NFL in 1998.

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"The competitive nature is always going to be there. I like, probably my favorite player of all time is Barry Sanders, so probably similar to that. Maybe one day, like it'll be out of nowhere, I'll probably be ballin', and just be like, ‘Yeah, call it quits.’"

Sanders racked up 15,269 career rushing yards before he abruptly retired. He needed less than 1,500 yards to catch up to Walter Payton's then all-time rushing record. Dallas Cowboys great Emmitt Smith currently sits atop the league's all-time list.

The Eagles rewarded Barkley's productive 2024 campaign with a lucrative two-year contract extension. Barkley entered the 2025 campaign with 7,216 career rushing yards and was a key part of the Eagles' run to the Super Bowl LIX title.

Barkley is credited with seven NFL seasons, while Sanders played a total of 10 years in the league.

Fox News’ Connor McGahan contributed to this report.

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George Clooney claims it's frightening time to be in news business because of Trump

Actor George Clooney said "it's a scary time to be a news person" under President Donald Trump's administration during an interview on Wednesday.

Clooney told CNN's Anderson Cooper that "most news organizations are under fire" by the Trump administration and that Cooper and CBS' "60 Minutes" have been specifically "picked out."

While the actor expressed concerns about the current state of the country, he did push back on Cooper's assertion that America is currently at its worst.

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"I can make an argument that we’re not. I can make an argument that we’ve had much worse times in our history. You know, 1968, every city in the United States was burning and there was — National Guard was surrounding the White House and the Capitol, and we’d lost Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy and Tet Offensive," he said.

Clooney continued, vocalizing his concerns about the Trump administration's alleged "attack" on news organizations.

"But it's a frustrating time, and I think a scary time for many people. It's a scary time to be a news person, to be in your profession. You've been picked out, you know, ‘60 Minutes’ has been picked out. Most news organizations are under fire," he said. "That usually happens with demagogues in a way. It usually is a way of — the first places you attack are the news, because that’s how we inform ourselves."

Cooper followed up by asking the actor if he believes that "Trumpism" will last following the current president's term.

"I don‘t think so," Clooney replied. "I think it‘d be very hard to do it. Remember this: Donald Trump is a celebrity. That‘s what he is. I mean, he has a star on Hollywood Boulevard. I don’t have a star on Hollywood Boulevard. I’m not lobbying for one. I’m just saying."

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He continued by noting that while Trump is "charming" and many of the people who support him find him "funny," another large portion of Americans do not.

"And so when he is finished, and he will be finished, they’re going to have to go looking for someone who can deliver the message that he delivered with the same kind of charisma. And they don't have that," he said of the Republican Party.

Later in the interview, Cooper asked Clooney whether he's worried about Trump personally targeting him.

"Sure. Everybody worries about it," he responded. "But, you know, if you spend your life worrying about things, then you won't do things. You know, we have, like everybody, a family, and we have a life, and we try to, you know, live and do things as the best example for our kids. And I want to be able to look at my kids in the eye and say where we stood and what we did at certain times in history. And I have no problem with that."

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