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Saquon Barkley's Epic Highlight to Be Featured on New 'Madden' Cover

Iconic play will live on in video game form.

Kyle Koster

Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley (26) leaps backwards over Jacksonville Jaguars cornerback Jarrian Jones (22) at Lincoln Financial Field.
Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley (26) leaps backwards over Jacksonville Jaguars cornerback Jarrian Jones (22) at Lincoln Financial Field. / Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
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Saquon Barkley put together one of the most impressive seasons ever compiled by a running back last season and capped it all off by enjoying a Super Bowl victory with his teammates—on his birthday. It's tough to imagine a better year than that but he added another amazing honor to the crowded list as EA Sports unveiled that the Philadelphia star will be immortalized on the cover of Madden 26.

The title will feature a still image of arguably the most memorable moment of Barkley's campaign, which saw the back hurdle a Jacksonville Jaguars defender with his back turned to the oncoming tackler while picking up a key third-down conversion.

Video game companies usually have a difficult time selecting which athlete to feature and how to feature them with a gripping image. In this case the deliberations may have been a bit easier because just look at that picture.

Barkley, understandably fired up to join a select class of players to grace the cover, celebrated by posting a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the cover.

Madden 26 will be out on August 14th.

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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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