Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley gave us a highlight reel moment against the Jaguars last Sunday. Barkley faked out one defender on a short reception and spun out of another tackle until doing a reverse hurdle, going right over cornerback Jarrian Jones. The move left the football world stunned as Barkley credited it to “God-given instincts.” That may be true, given how a high-schooler tried to recreate the move but failed.

The game against the Jaguars saw Barkley notch up 199 total yards and two TDs as he helped the Eagles to a fourth win in a row since their bye week. But the talking point of the game was obviously his backward flip which led to Head Coach Nick Sirianni saying, “It was the best play I’ve ever seen.” Moreover, the coach mentioned that kids will try to recreate the acrobatics of Barkley and that is exactly what one young footballer did. Well almost.

A video of a high school football player attempting Barkley’s sensational backward hurdle has gone viral. In the video, we can see the high schooler dodging a tackle as begins to imitate Barkley. He runs a few yards and attempts the hurdle but gets caught in mid-air by one of the defenders, before being spun around and slammed to the ground. Ouch.

Now, this was something Sirianni had called after Barkley performed the backward hurdle. “Saquon’s play, what I think is so cool is there are going to be kids all over the country and all over Philadelphia — I really think about that — trying to make that play and talking about that play and simulating that play as they play backyard football or Pee Wee Football,” he said.

But the coach was quick to remind, “They aren’t going to be able to make it because I think he’s the only one in the world that can do that.” Well, as it turns out, he wasn’t wrong. After seeing this footage, it is clear that what the Eagles’ running back performed was far from easy. It required momentum, incredible instincts, and most crucially, good timing. Even then Barkley said that it had more to do with a higher power.

“I feel God gave me ability to play this position. He gave me some instincts,” Barkley said. “Sometimes you just gotta let go and let your God-given instincts take over,” he said. His move naturally drew the attention of the NFL world with players both from past and present left in awe.

Saquon Barkley further explained his experience on Air it Out . “What really happened was, I was going to hit a double spin. I aborted it, so when I spun I went to spin again, and I just felt like it’s probably going to take away from how cool the play is. I thought he was going low, so I thought it would be cool if I just jumped up, but my body kind of took over.”

Shannon Sharpe took to X and posted, “Did I really just see Saquon do that? Hop backwards over a defender.” Retired Dallas Cowboys star receiver Dez Bryan also wrote, “Bruh @saquon that’s crazy!” The move also drew a reaction from Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Chris Godwin who was taken aback and wrote, “Nah you really ill @saquon.”

Their reaction was not surprising and even the NFL had to drug test Barkley following his incredible move.

Saquon Barkley gave a drug test after pulling off the backward hurdle

It does seem bizarre yet reasonable at the same time. The NFL wants the game to be as fair as possible, thus they must address these issues. And, after seeing what Barkley accomplished, can you blame them? On top of that, the RB agreed that they did the right thing.

On Air It Out, he said, “I got it (the drug test) right away. I got drug tested right after the game.” Even though the move was really something out of this world and fans would want him to try it again, Barkley is done.

“I ain’t trying to do that again, to be honest with you. It’s not a safe play… I can’t really give this a name because I have no intentions to ever do that again. If it happens again, it happens,” he mentioned. Well, he may be just about right, the move ain’t safe and as we saw with the high schooler it is not an easy skill to imitate.