Saquon Barkley’s journey to producing his own documentary began during his college years at Penn State, where he first met NFL Films’ Shannon Furman. Their connection led to ongoing conversations about filmmaking and sports documentaries, including discussions about the production of “The Last Dance” on Michael Jordan.
After Barkley’s standout 2024 season with the Philadelphia Eagles, which included setting an NFL record for rushing yards in both the regular season and postseason, winning AP Offensive Player of the Year, and securing a Super Bowl LIX victory, Furman approached him about making a film. Barkley revealed that he had already been working on one.
Over five years, Barkley collaborated with a camera crew to gather approximately 700 hours of footage across 127 days. The project started on the day of his ACL surgery in late 2020 and continued through his first year with the Eagles. The result is “SAQUON,” a feature-length documentary set to premiere Thursday on Prime Video. The film offers exclusive behind-the-scenes content and details how Barkley overcame injury challenges and relied on family support.
Director Alex Pappas joined the project at its inception, initially brought in by Mason Eways. Pappas worked closely with Director of Photography Chris Scamurra over several years, often being present for Barkley’s personal interviews. Reflecting on a difficult period during filming when Barkley was recovering from another injury, Pappas recalled: “He was being apologetic to us,” Pappas said. “He’s like, ‘I’m sorry, the story couldn’t be better right now.’ … There was a period there where we weren’t exactly sure how to put an exclamation point on this. I think it was going to be more of a sad story than anything.”
The narrative shifted as Barkley’s career took off in Philadelphia. His achievements prompted everyone involved to move forward with releasing the documentary.
“I didn’t expect it to be a five-year thing,” Barkley said last week. “Then it came to me coming here and kind of having my ending on that part of my life and part of my career. But I just want to be a story that kids growing up, whether you play sports or not, can relate to when they’re going through adversity and show who I was in that moment. And when you keep your head down and trust the process and you don’t let your faith waver, sometimes you come out at the end of the tunnel with a lot of glory.”
Pappas noted that while professional athletes often present themselves carefully in public, this film reveals more depth: “He does say the right things, as do most of these professional athletes, but he’s genuine as he does it,” Pappas said. “But I do think, peel back the curtains, and you kind of do see him as a nuanced person for the first time, really. … I don’t think the public has ever really seen him as a vulnerable human being at this level.
“I think they’re going to appreciate him even more for the human being that he actually is, and not just this famous person that they don’t really know. I’m hoping by the end of the film, people will know him as well as I do.”
LVI Entertainment partnered with NFL Films for production before reaching an agreement with Amazon for distribution. Martin Scorsese contributed as an executive producer by offering feedback during editing.
Barkley reflected on how making the documentary helped him grow personally: “The big thing I do like about the doc, though, it’s not supposed to make me look perfect or [like] some star,” Barkley said. “If you look at the ‘Last Dance,’ I think that was a great chance for guys to really get to know Michael Jordan, the killer mindset that he had, and how great of a player he was. Yes, I had the phenomenal season last year, but I think it’s relatable for a lot of people that go through adversity in life.”
