PHILADELPHIA — Saquon Barkley might strike fear in the hearts of NFL opponents, but it turns out the Philadelphia Eagles star is a really nice guy.
And Rachel Panek has the gold medal to prove it.
Roll back the clock to a Pennsylvania high school track meet in 2015 when Panek was a sophomore hurdler for Saucon Valley High and Barkley was a senior sprinter for Whitehall, which was hosting the Colonial League championships.
There, a friendship was forged, and Barkley, who is currently assembling one of the greatest individual seasons in NFL history, showed a generosity and humility that has been his hallmark off the field.
“His humbleness and charisma shined through,” said Panek, 25, now a nurse at a burn intensive care unit at a Dallas hospital.
Barkley, who this season became the ninth player in league history to rush for 2,000 yards, is one step away from the Super Bowl. The Eagles play host Sunday to the Washington Commanders in the NFC championship game.
Here’s how the encounter at the track meet unfolded:
Panek glided to victory in the 100-meter hurdle finals, but there was an issue with the clock and the race had to be rerun. The competitors were given 40 minutes to prepare for the makeup race.
“There was a shock factor,” she said. “But I had to get in the mind set of putting it behind me. There was nothing we could do about it. I still had other events, high jump and such. It was like rinse, repeat and try to stay warm.”
Next up was the boys’ 100-meter-dash finals, and because Panek and Barkley were using the same lane, it was her responsibility to hold down his metal starting blocks for him. They didn’t know each other.
“When it was time for his race I said, ‘Good luck. Go get ‘em out there.’ I gave him either a fist pound or a very casual handshake. He said thank you and reminded me to make sure I held the blocks very hard because he pushes off very hard. I said, ‘Don’t worry I got you.’”
Not surprisingly, Barkley, who was headed to Penn State on a football scholarship, exploded out of the blocks and won the race.
Panek’s do-over didn’t go as smoothly. Early in the race, her trailing knee caught a hurdle, which tipped over into the neighboring lane. As a result, she was disqualified.
“It was a monstrous feeling of defeat and almost deception,” she recalled, “because it’s like I won the race but now I didn’t. Luckily at the end of the day it was just a medal I was losing.”
Imagine her delight later in the meet when Barkley presented her with his gold medal.
“It was the most thoughtful gift that somebody could give to a stranger, seeing the despair and heartache I was going through after my race,” she said. “To be so forthcoming in giving up his accomplishment because he felt I deserved it.”
The two stayed connected in a casual way online, and would see each other again when Barkley returned to the league championship meet a year later as a special guest and presented Panek with a medal for winning a different race.
A decade later, they aren’t in close touch, although Panek texted him a congratulations note when Barkley’s daughter was born.
As for that gold medal that was gifted?
“I plan to frame it,” Panek said. “I’m still an apartment renter, but once I get a home of my own I’m going to put it on the wall.”
Of course, she’ll be glued to Sunday’s game.
“Eagles fans have a passion like no other,” she said. “He has the support of the city, and the fans are behind him.”
