Eagles running back Saquon Barkley declines invitation to join Trump's sports council
Barkley, the 2,000-yard rusher for the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles, was on a list of sports personalities that included golfers Bryson DeChambeau and Nelly Korda, WWE executive Paul 'Triple H' Levesque, football Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor and retired New York Yankees great Mariano Rivera.
Barkley said Monday following Eagles' practice that he had actually declined the invitation.
'A couple months ago, it was brought to my team about the council,' Barkley said. 'So I'm not really too familiar with it. I felt like that I am going to be super busy. Me and my family thought it would probably be of best interest to not accept that. I was definitely a little shocked when my name was mentioned. I'm assuming it's something great, so I appreciate it but was a little shocked when my name was mentioned.'
Trump last week reestablished the Presidential Fitness Test for American children, a fixture of public schools for decades that gauged young people's health and athleticism with 1-mile runs, sit-ups and stretching exercises.
'This is a wonderful tradition, and we're bringing it back,' Trump said of the fitness test that began in 1966 but was phased out during the Obama administration.
The executive order also reinvigorated the national sports council that could have included Barkley.
Barkley won AP Offensive Player of the Year last season after rushing for 2,005 yards, eighth-best in NFL history, in his first season with the Eagles.
Barkley has golfed with Trump and former President Barack Obama over the last year and the running back attended the White House celebration of the champion Eagles while some teammates — notably star quarterback Jalen Hurts — skipped the ceremony.
Barkley visited Trump in April at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, and caught a ride with the president to Washington on Air Force One and then to the White House on Marine One.
Thursdays
Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter.
'He loved it,' Trump said then of Barkley's short flight on the presidential airplane. 'He's a great young guy and an incredible football player. Saquon had a season for the ages, running behind the most powerful offensive line in the NFL.'
Barkley, meanwhile, pushed back on social media criticism following the visit. He noted that he had already golfed with Obama, a Democrat.
'Maybe I just respect the office, not a hard concept to understand,' Barkley posted on X.
___
AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Winnipeg Free Press
38 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
NFL longevity demands wisdom as much as determination and talent. These seasoned guys can explain
EAGAN, Minn. (AP) — Harrison Smith, just like anyone approaching middle age, has learned to accept the realities of getting older. The joints, for one, don't quite move as effortlessly as they once did. So that's where the 14th-year free safety for the Minnesota Vikings has aimed his recent training regimens, customizing resistance exercises to simulate the stress that NFL games can place on critical areas of the body. Reaching at full extension to make a tackle at full speed puts the arm muscles and tendons in a vulnerable position. The more fluidly the elbow can bend, the better. 'All the strength work in the world isn't really going to translate to real strength on the field if your joints don't have the range they once did, especially range under load,' Smith said. 'I've come up with different ways to work out that aren't necessarily just the traditional banging weights around. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that, but if you don't have your range ready, it's kind of almost counterproductive.' In a sport with notoriously short careers, as salary cap constraints perpetually conspire with constant injury risk and overall physical decline, the fountain of youth can seem like a unicorn. Smith's approach provides some valuable clues for finding the most vital source: wisdom. 'When you meet Harrison Smith, right away you understand why he might be the type of person to defy odds, and he's done nothing short of convincing us that over these few years,' Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said. The sturdy 30 From a famous quarterback like Aaron Rodgers dropping back in the pocket to a steady six-time Pro Bowl pick like Smith patrolling the secondary, the young man's league still has some space for gray hair. But sticking around takes more than just determination and talent. 'I feel great, actually. I don't feel like a 37-year-old. Not sure what they're supposed to feel like, but I feel a little younger,' San Francisco 49ers left tackle Trent Williams said at the beginning of training camp. 'As we get older, things start to change. I think you've got to pay a little bit more attention to what you put in your body, how you treat your body. Moreso than just being a football player, it's just a natural maturation of a human being. When you get older you can't do the same things you did when you were 22.' According to an Associated Press review of the 90-man rosters across the league last week, there are 30 players currently with an NFL club who were born in the 1980s. That's barely 1%. Not only has Generation X been long gone from the game, once Tom Brady retired in 2023, but Millennials are already in the minority. Rodgers, of course, is the oldest active player at 41, followed by New York Jets kicker Nick Folk (40) and Cleveland Browns quarterback Joe Flacco (40). The sturdy 30 includes six long snappers, two punters and two kickers, plus nine quarterbacks — the positions that usually produce the longest-lasting players. 'You have to evolve every single year,' Kansas City Chiefs tight Travis Kelce said. Smith is the lone defensive back. Kelce is the only offensive skill-position player who's not a quarterback. Williams and Arizona Cardinals left tackle Kelvin Beachum, now a backup, are the offensive linemen. Demario Davis of the New Orleans Saints and Nick Bellore of the Washington Commanders, who plays almost exclusively on special teams, are the linebackers. Then there's a well-decorated group of five defensive linemen: Calais Campbell (Arizona Cardinals), Cameron Heyward (Pittsburgh Steelers), John Jenkins (Baltimore Ravens), Cameron Jordan (New Orleans Saints) and Von Miller (Washington Commanders). 'I still feel great. I feel like I can go out there and dominate,' said Campbell, who returned this year to his original team, the Cardinals. 'I wish I had a magic formula. I think I've just been blessed. God's given me a lot of blessings to play this game I love.' Grinding it out The list has been trimmed, naturally, from last season. Nine players — tight end Marcedes Lewis, kickers Matt Prater, Justin Tucker and Greg Zuerlein, long snappers Jake McQuaide and Matt Overton, safety Kareem Jackson, defensive end Jerry Hughes and defensive tackle Linval Joseph — who logged time on the field in 2024 have not signed with a team this year. Their peers still grinding through summer practices fully realize they'll be permanently on the sideline sooner than later. 'I start a lot earlier doing my training. Just listen to my body when I need to take a rest,' Heyward said. 'But it's more just trying to get stronger as soon as possible after the season. Less time to recover, but recovering through the process.' Mastering the art of recovery, forever a moving target, is a primary focus. Moving around on Mondays after games can be a chore, but figuring out how to maximize those summer strength and conditioning sessions for a mid-30s player is also a challenge. Smith, a soft-spoken leader who'd much rather have a deep locker-room conversation about life in professional football than give the defense a rah-rah pregame speech, fields more questions from young players about recovery than any other topic. 'Sometimes you just grind it out and you don't feel good, and that's how it is,' said Smith, who also mixes in pickup basketball with his offseason work in his hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee. Pride and perspective are part of the NFL roadmap for longevity, too. Heyward's oldest son, 9-year-old Callen, has spent a few nights with him in his dorm room. Thursdays Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter. 'There's a hunger there that I know I'm in a rare group that gets to see year 15, but it's something I constantly think about,' Heyward said. 'There's things I want to check off before I hang them up, and I haven't reached those goals yet.' ___ AP Pro Football Writer Josh Dubow and AP Sports Writers David Brandt, Will Graves, Brett Martel, Noah Trister and David Skretta contributed. ___ AP NFL:
Winnipeg Free Press
4 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Wallabies hooker David Porecki retires from rugby
SYDNEY (AP) — Hooker David Porecki, who was a late injury withdrawal from Australia's lineup for the third test against the British and Irish Lions last weekend, has announced his retirement. Rugby Australia issued a statement Tuesday saying the 32-year-old Porecki, who sustained a heel injury last week, was retiring immediately and ending a career that included five seasons in Britain with Saracens and London Irish from 2015. He returned to Australia and the New South Wales Waratahs ahead of the 2021 Super Rugby season, and made his test debut a year later in a win for Australia against England in Perth. Porecki was part of Australia's 2023 Rugby World Cup squad and became the 88th Wallabies captain after an injury to Will Skelton, leading the team in three of its four pool matches at the tournament. Two-time champion Australia was eliminated in the group stage for the first time ever at a Rugby World Cup, hastening a change of coaching staff and leadership. Injury sidelined Porecki in 2024 but he returned to the Wallabies squad last month and started against Fiji in Australia's first test of 2025. His 21st and final test was at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on July 26, when the Lions clinched the three-test series with a contentious late try. 'Rugby has given me so much to be thankful for and has been such a massive part of my life for so long but it feels like the right time for me to turn the page and start a new chapter,' Porecki said in the Rugby Australia statement. Australia's list of injuries continues to grow just four tests in the international season, although there has been some positive news for the Wallabies with a potential return for Allan Ala'alatoa during the Rugby Championship. Initially set to undergo shoulder surgery after sustaining an injury in Melbourne, Ala'alatoa is instead back in Canberra completing intensive rehab in the hope of rejoining the Wallabies for the four-nation tournament. The 31-year-old prop is expected to be sidelined for six to eight weeks, giving him a chance of returning for the Sept. 13 test against Argentina in Sydney or the first match against New Zealand in Auckland two weeks later. ___ AP rugby:
Winnipeg Free Press
6 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Carroll and Gurriel drive in 2 runs each, Diamondbacks beat Padres 5-2
PHOENIX (AP) — Corbin Carroll and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. each drove in two runs, Brandon Pfaadt pitched into the sixth inning, and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the San Diego Padres 6-2 on Monday night. Tyler Locklear and Alek Thomas each hit a solo homer for Arizona. Pfaadt (11-7) gave up two runs in 5 2/3 innings and was replaced in the sixth by Andrew Hoffmann with runners at first and third and two out. Hoffman got Ryan O'Hearn to fly out to end the threat and pitched a 1-2-3 seventh before Kyle Backhus got the final six outs for his first career save. Gurriel singled off Padres starter JP Sears (7-10) to drive in Ketel Marte and give Arizona a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Carroll hit a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded that drove in Blaze Alexander — who walked to lead off the inning — and made it 2-0. Arizona has won three in a row after it lost nine of 10. Manny Machado doubled with two out and scored when Jackson Merrill followed with another double in the third. Gavin Sheets drew a two-out walk, moved to second when Ramón Laureano singled and scored on a single by Jake Cronenworth to make it 5-2. Key moment Jorge Barrosa doubled to lead off the fourth inning, moved to third when Ketel Marte singled and scored on a double by Carroll. Gurriel singled to drive in Carroll and give the Diamonbacks a 5-1 lead. Key stat Thursdays Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter. Thomas went 2 for 4 and is hitting .371 (13 for 35) with a double, three homers, five RBIs and two walks in 11 games since the All-Star break. Up next Padres RHP Yu Darvish (1-3, 6.46 ERA) goes against Diamondbacks RHP Ryne Nelson (6-3, 3.20) on Tuesday. ___ AP MLB:
