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Saquon Barkley Gets Adorable Rock Star Welcome From Elementary School

Not a typical day at school.

Kyle Koster

Saquon Barkley got huge cheers during a surprise visit to elementary school.
Saquon Barkley got huge cheers during a surprise visit to elementary school. / Philadelphia Inquirer
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Saquon Barkley gets a hero's welcome pretty much anywhere he goes in Eagles country these days and for good reason. In his first year with Philadelphia, Barkley put together one of the more dominant seasons ever posted by a running back and capped things off by winning a Super Bowl. Yet few receptions over the past few months compare to the one he got earlier this week while visiting a local elementary school for a surprise appearance during an assembly.

Check out his introduction and the roof subsequently coming off the building upon his entrance.

They were obviously amped up to see their football king but perhaps adding to that is because they put the wheels in motion for this whole thing.

After a group of elementary schoolers at Milton Hershey wrote letters to Barkley asking him to come visit their school, Barkley obliged.

Barkley, alongside Swoop, the Eagles cheerleaders, and the Eagles drumline, made the trip out to Hershey for a surprise assembly, and said he got the “best welcome I’ve ever gotten in my life.”

That's high praise. Adults stand out in parking lots for hours pregaming and getting hyped and yet, per Barkley, none of them have been able to match this intensity of warmth.

The kids are alright.

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Kyle Koster
KYLE KOSTER

Kyle Koster is an assistant managing editor at Sports Illustrated covering the intersection of sports and media. He was formerly the editor in chief of The Big Lead, where he worked from 2011 to '24. Koster also did turns at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he created the Sports Pros(e) blog, and at Woven Digital.

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