Some hastily re-customized No. 26 jerseys and a photoshopped image of his head on a snake’s body could be child’s play compared to the vitriol that awaits Saquon Barkley.
Barkley — who was the popular face of the Giants as they went 34-64-1 from 2018-23 — will return Sunday to MetLife Stadium as Public Enemy No. 1 when his Eagles visit.
The Pro Bowl running back’s decision to sign a three-year, $37.5 million free-agent contract with a rival is seen by many fans as a betrayal that can’t be reasoned away by the Giants not offering a contract after last season, his family’s chance to return close to home or the ticking clock on his opportunity to fulfill forecasts of greatness.
“Saquon did and said everything he was supposed to, but the team always has the hammer,” said former Giants great Carl Banks, the team’s radio analyst. “Some of it’s going to be fun. Some of it’s going to be mean-spirited, no matter how great a kid Saquon is. You are going to have fans who need an outlet for why things weren’t good. He was a good player in a forgettable era.”
Few legacy athletes have jumped from one side of a major New York rivalry directly to the other as Barkley did.
The Post spoke to four — Chad Pennington (Jets to Dolphins), Johnny Damon (Red Sox to Yankees), Scott Gomez (Devils to Rangers) and Banks (Giants to Washington) — about their own experience crossing enemy lines to get an idea of what Barkley truly will be feeling (no matter what clichés are used) and what fans and ex-teammates might have in store for him.
Barkley was surprised to learn in May — after just two months — that New Yorkers still were upset with his decision. He later admitted that he laughed at a “Snakequon” photo among all the social-media hate directed his way.
Some fans have used masking tape and a marker to change the “Barkley” nameplate on their No. 26 jerseys to represent replacement Devin Singletary.
Even scenes from “Hard Knocks” that verified The Post’s previous reporting that Barkley wanted to return and would let the Giants match his free-agent offers — after the sides endured contentious negotiations throughout 2023 and finished less than $2 million apart on guaranteed money — have been twisted.
“Rangers-Devils is pretty big, but Giants-Eagles is a different category,” Gomez said. “I’m sure he put thought into it. If you are not ready to accept it and know it’s coming, you don’t sign with the Eagles. I remember [coming back] like ‘Holy s–t, this is about to get [real].’ Getting mocked, that’s a different kind of boo.”
No “Idiot”
Damon was the face of the beloved so-called “Idiots” who broke the 86-year Curse of the Bambino.
But, in the span of 426 days, he went from celebrating a historic 3-0 ALCS comeback at the Yankees’ expense in 2004 to leaving the Red Sox for a four-year, $52 million contract to finish his prime in The Bronx.
“My first thought was, ‘How could the Red Sox let me walk?’ ” Damon said. “But when there is no contract offer from your current team?”
Coming off a World Series win, Damon says he was told that an offer would be made during the 2005 season. Since it never came, he bought a $100,000 insurance policy against injury and decided “there’s no more hometown discount.”
“They let me go through the whole year,” Damon said, “and I was actually fine with that because I believed in myself.”
Barkley felt the same way betting on himself in 2023 and playing on the one-year franchise tag, believing another team would see his total package as an exception to the NFL’s way of devaluing running backs.
Damon’s market cooled when the Tigers and Dodgers pivoted elsewhere. Word got back to him through teammate Bronson Arroyo that the Red Sox thought he was “lying” about the Yankees offer and one-day turnaround for the answer.
“The Yankees were my leverage,” Damon said.
Damon says he refused to go back on his agreement when the panicked Red Sox made an offer too late.
Playing in years of high-stakes games against the Yankees during the peak of the rivalry was supposed to brew hate with the players like it does with the fans. In some cases, it did. In others?
“I never wanted to leave Boston, but if you leave, you want baseball to remain important,” Damon said. “I always respected the way the Yankees hustled, how they led by example. I never hated them. I hated losing to them.”
In Damon’s return to Fenway Park, some fans threw money at him in center field. Others wore shirts that read, “Looks like Jesus, acts like Judas, throws like Mary.”
“The first season I had with New York, it was all about proving the Red Sox wrong,” Damon said. “Nobody likes to be booed, but they don’t boo nobodies. It was a great move for me, but I hated it for the fans of Boston.”
Know your new fans
Pennington never expected to need a phonics lesson to avoid a football faux pas in Miami.
“Signing autographs was really weird for me and for the fans who had been cheering against me for eight years,” Pennington said. “One of the first autographs, the fan wanted me to put ‘Go Fins.’ I spelled it P-H-I-N-S. And he looked at me like, ‘What are you doing?’ It’s F-I-N-S. Man, c’mon!’”
The Jets cut Pennington on Aug. 7, 2008 — the same day the trade for Brett Favre was finalized. Most starting quarterback jobs are filled at that point in the calendar, but Miami offered a chance to compete in training camp.
“I based my decision on where I would have the best chance to play as quickly as possible,” Pennington said. “I really didn’t even think about it from a rivalry standpoint within the decision-making process. I did once I was there.”
The Dolphins started 0-2 — including a season-opening home loss to the Jets when Pennington “was so emotional about the whole situation that I should’ve been playing linebacker.”
But he got the last laugh.
The Dolphins beat Favre’s Jets in a winner-takes-the-AFC-East game — the only division title not won by the Patriots from 2003-19 — in the season finale in East Rutherford. Pennington won the Jets’ most recent AFC East title in 2002.
“It’s funny how winning will change a fan’s perspective about you real quickly,” Pennington said. “The first six weeks or so, you could tell they were a little leery of me. But by the end of the season, it was certainly a match made in heaven.”
Even with all that was at stake in his first game back in the Meadowlands, Pennington recalls a warm reception.
“Multiple comments in the stands of, ‘Chad, we appreciate what you’ve done for us,’ ” Pennington said. “I think because of the success we had, because I didn’t act disrespectfully, Jets fans respected me. That was a neat moment in my career.”
All is not forgiven
Banks never had a conversation with new Giants head coach Dan Reeves before he was cut in 1993.
But seeking vengeance didn’t prompt him to sign with Washington. It wasn’t a repeat case of Sam Huff — the Giants great who held an all-time grudge after he was traded to Washington.
“It was about maximizing income, and Washington came with the most money,” Banks said. “I don’t think emotion ever came into play. I thought I’d be able to help, but it was an awful year there.”
Banks was ready to bury the hatchet on one of the NFL’s great rivalries of the 1980s. His Giants went 12-6, including a playoff win, against Washington from 1984-92 — a period when both sides won two Super Bowls.
But Washington wasn’t as forgiving.
“What I realized is that they were not over it,” Banks said. “They didn’t view me as a teammate. I walked into the locker room amongst rivals. That year I probably fought once a week in practice. I understood after a little while: They are still bitter.”
The Eagles rallied around welcoming Barkley, as if trying to rub the Giants’ noses in it. Banks thinks the fans’ hard feelings toward Barkley eventually will pass, like they have for Tiki Barber after his awkward retirement.
Banks only lasted one season in Washington. He was introduced before his homecoming game at Giants Stadium without tribute — the same way as every Washington starter.
“I remember being concerned that I was going to get booed by the majority of the stadium in warm-ups, but it wasn’t like that,” Banks said. “There were people behind the Washington bench who were really letting me have it. I turned around like, ‘Hey, I’m here. Deal with it.’ They were like, ‘Oh, OK. We just wanted to say hi.’ ”
Friend or foe
When Gomez, the two-time Stanley Cup winner, pays the bar tab with his former Devils teammates, he never misses an opportunity to call out the icy responses he received from some of them after signing a seven-year, $51.5 million free-agent contract with the Rangers in 2007.
“When you win together, it’s a bond you can’t take away,” Gomez said. “I figured all of them would be happy because we’ve all gone through free agency and it’s nothing personal. You find out some guys get mad and you are like, ‘Who the ‘F’ are you? This isn’t the 1950s.’ I didn’t ask permission from any guys.”
Gomez was drawn to the chance to play for an Original Six team in historic Madison Square Garden. A couple of Devils greats — Bruce Driver and Bobby Holik — previously laid the groundwork for the Devils-to-Rangers jump.
“I remember someone saying, ‘Anyone but that team,’ ” Gomez said. “Well, they offered the most money, so no. As for loyalty? I loved everything about New Jersey, but you can buy a house and then get traded.”
It would be a surprise if the Giants locker room felt animosity toward Barkley.
It won’t stop the defense from delivering a big hit on him Sunday, but veterans believe the five-time co-captain was honest about wanting to be a “Giant for life” and immortalized in the franchise’s Ring of Honor. Kayvon Thibodeaux said that Barkley, as the offensive focal point, should’ve been paid before quarterback Daniel Jones.
Gomez lasted just two seasons with the Rangers, but he was booed by Devils fans every time that he touched the puck during a five-game playoff series (won by the Rangers) in 2008. Gomez found that honesty with the hecklers asking why he left was the best comeback
“The fans are the reason we play,” Gomez said. “That’s what makes the tri-state area the best.”
Years later, Gomez, who still spends time around New York in retirement, is surprised some Devils fans still hold a grudge. He’s heard, “You let me down,” and “I still haven’t forgiven you.”
“Looking back now, would I change it? No,” Gomez said. “It’s business. You can’t bash the fans. Maybe for Saquon Barkley, booing proves how much they really liked him. But let’s face it: I signed with the Rangers.”
Just like Barkley signed with the Eagles.