After capping his historic 2024 season with a Super Bowl victory, Philadelphia Eagles star running back Saquon Barkley sought advice on how to handle success from a legend in another sport.
Barkley revealed to ESPN’s Hallie Grossman that he reached out to star golfer Tiger Woods, as he was curious about a key point in the 15-time major winner’s iconic career.
“I texted Tiger, ‘What’s the reason you think you were so successful from ’99 to 2000?'” Barkley says. “Less than 15 minutes later, he responded.”
In 1999, Woods set a record with eight PGA Tour wins, but that season was overshadowed by his 2000 campaign in which he won nine PGA Tour events and completed the first and only “Tiger Slam” by winning four consecutive majors.
Barkley is hoping to have a similar trajectory as he enters the 2025 season. He set an NFL record last year with 2,504 rushing yards over the regular season and the playoffs. He helped the Eagles win their second Super Bowl title in franchise history, defeating the Kansas City Chiefs 40-22.
Barkley told Grossman that the reply he received from Woods was “great,” and “rife with insight on how feverishly detailed Woods had been throughout the 1990s, how that rigor prepared him for and led him directly to the avalanche of his 2000 season.”
The three-time Pro Bowler now writes “Tiger Mode” on all the notes he takes. He told Greg Bishop of Sports Illustrated earlier this offseason that for the 2025 season, “I’m trying to tap more into my Tiger side. My Eldrick side, I guess. … Just being on the prowl. People automatically associate a hell of a year with numbers. That’s not what’s driving me.”
Barkley will showcase his renewed focus when the Eagles open the 2025 season on Thursday night against the Dallas Cowboys.
