NFL stars of today used to be just college kids looking to prove themselves. Sometimes they were even teammates like Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley and Cincinnati Bengals tight end Mike Gesicki.
Barkley and Gesicki crossed paths at Penn State from 2015-17. Barkley is now a Super Bowl champion while Gesicki is looking to win one with Cincinnati, but even without a ring on his finger, Barkley still thinks fondly about another time he bested his former teammate.
In the weight room of all places.
Saqyon Barkley tells funny weightlifting story about Bengals TE Mike Gesicki
While taking part in a recent episode of "Hot Ones," the popular YouTube series in which celebrity guests are interviewed while eating increasingly spicier chicken wings, Barkley revealed his proudest weight room record wasn't when he power-cleaned 405 pounds, but when he simply out-lifted Gesicki.
"I did one the year before when I was like eighteen, and it was 390 [pounds] because me and my teammate, Mike Gesicki, we were battling. We were going at it," Barkley reminisced. "Me and him were competing, and he got 365 or 375. I popped the 365, 375, and I did the 390. He couldn't do 390.
"I'm kind of throwing shade it's kind of crazy, my fault Mike."
What gives this moment weight for Barkley was the part that didn't get on camera.
"He didn't do a 390, but you don't see it on a video when I'm done, like the video cuts off, I kind of go like this to him," Barkley said insinuating the usage of his middle finger]. "Like, we're like locked in like that we're going against each other."
Barkley is one of the biggest stars in football, a very valid reason as to why he appeared on one of the internet's most iconic series. A Bengals player being name-dropped on the episode was not expected, but that's the nature of the show. The Scoville units do their work and you never know what story you'll hear.
It's also quite the revelation that Gesicki was that close to Barkley while they were teammates. College rosters are far larger than NFL rosters, but the two of them clearly had mutual respect for one another as players and teammates.
And if Barkley remembers that story so well, then Gesicki probably does too. Getting sent the bird after your buddy clears a weight above you is enough to stick around in your head for a minute.
Someone will need to ask Gesicki if his side of the story matches.
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