It is all a series of firsts for Saquon Barkley as he seamlessly navigates through his nascent NFL life with the Giants. First time he slipped on the traditional blue and white uniform. First time he hit the field for practice. First minicamp. First time he was warned — playfully (we think) — that a veteran defender (Damon Harrison) wants to “hit his ass’’ when the pads come on in training camp.
All are significant, but none is quite the same as this: Sunday is his first Father’s Day as a father. On April 24 — two days before the Giants selected him with the No. 2 pick in the NFL draft — Barkley’s girlfriend, Anna Congdon, gave birth to the couple’s first child, a daughter they named Jada Claire.
“Every day is Father’s Day to me when I’m with her,” Barkley told The Post. “When I’ll be able to hold my daughter and see her grow and see her smile. That’s Father’s Day to me every day.”
Growing up in The Bronx and later Coplay, Pa., Barkley said his family did not make a big deal about Father’s Day with his parents, Alibay Barkley and Tonya Johnson.
“How I was raised, me and my parents, my family, we never been big on things like this,” Saquon Barkley said. “Every day is Father’s Day for me to my father. And hopefully I can do the right things for my daughter where she thinks the same. I’d rather get something for my dad, I’d rather do the opposite — not just because it’s that exact day. It’s not just that day I’m thinking of you.”
It is the start of Barkley’s first professional offseason, finally a respite after a training grind leading up to the NFL scouting combine, the relentless pre-draft visits, interviews and workouts and his introduction to the Giants, intertwined with his intense desire to make a positive first impression. So far, Barkley has aced every test — heck, he castigated himself for the one pass he dropped all spring — and to see him eating lunch in the team cafeteria with Odell Beckham Jr. felt like the launch of a beautiful football union.
Barkley deserves a break, but he grimaces and curls his nose as if smelling something repugnant when asked if he indeed will take time off to decompress. He has to report back to the Giants on July 22.
“No, no, this six weeks is not really a time to rest,” Barkley said.
This past Thursday, Barkley sought out safety Landon Collins (“He’s an established vet, well-known, well-respected,” Barkley said.) to get the lowdown on how much he should and should not do during this break. Collins’ suggestion: Take about a week off and take it earlier rather than later, as you want to head into training camp ready to roll.
“When I look at the great athletes, I think of the Kobes and the LeBrons and the Tom Bradys of the world, obviously they take rests and recover, but they also continue to work, too,” Barkley said. “Working out and keeping up with that, with your conditioning, is another part of health and keeping your longevity throughout the years.”
There is a Sweet 16 celebration for his younger sister, and Barkley will head home to join in. Then he plans to train in Los Angeles (often Beckham’s go-to offseason destination) or Florida.
“Or both,” Barkley said.
While Barkley acclimated to the Giants, Jada Claire lived with her mother in Pennsylvania.
“I think my girlfriend has been doing a great job of taking care of our daughter, and her family has been helping her out a lot,” he said.
The plan is to get the new family under one roof in New Jersey.
“Try to find the right time for her to move in, and we could just live together,” Barkley said. “I am very involved, but I wish I was way more involved, I wish I was there with her, to be able to spend more time with my daughter would be amazing.”
As Father’s Day neared, Barkley, 21, was given the opportunity to gush about Jada Claire and did so as effortlessly as he softly cradles one of Eli Manning’s passes.
“The thing I would brag about my daughter, I think we got a little athlete in the future,” he said, smiling broadly. “She’s very strong already for her age. She obviously can’t stand on her own, but like, when I put her up, she fights it to stand up. She’s so strong and she’s very long for her age, so I think we got a future track star if we can do it right.”