Eagles’ Saquon Barkley reveals how Bobby Wagner saved him during brawl

Philadelphia Eagles fans might owe Bobby Wagner a Christmas gift basket for saving Saquon Barkley from himself. Barkley admitted he came close to inserting himself into the on-field brawl between the Eagles and Washington Commanders in Week 18 and might have gotten into trouble if the linebacker had not stopped him.

Barkley had jogged off the field by the time the brawl broke out, but he turned around once punches started getting thrown. He was close to joining the chaos before being stopped by Wagner, whom he credits for getting his emotions in check.

“Bobby Wagner did a really good job of making it make sense to me in that moment,” Barkley said, via ESPN. “[Wagner said]: ‘What, you get to throw two to three punches at a helmet? Hopefully you don’t break your hand, just to say you’re a tough guy?’ It’s not really worth it, and you lose a lot of money, too.”

Barkley acknowledged that the Eagles have “a lot to lose” after clinching the NFC East with the win. Philadelphia has a massive game against the Buffalo Bills looming in Week 17, before it ends the regular season with a rematch against the Commanders.

The brawl broke out after an Eagles two-point conversion to extend their lead to 29-10. What started as a shoving match between Eagles receiver Darius Cooper and Commanders safety Will Harris quickly got more players involved before punches were thrown.

Things getting chippy here between the Eagles and Commanders pic.twitter.com/1FYV4JplMH

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Eagles guard Tyler Steen was the biggest instigator and began targeting Commanders cornerback Mike Sainristil and safety Quay Martin. Steen and Martin were ejected, along with Washington defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw.

Martin took exception to Steen targeting the much smaller Sainristil and claimed he went in to “protect his guy.” He ended up being ejected after slapping Steen in the helmet.

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