'WHAT IF I WAS IN THAT SITUATION'
Every time a black man is the victim of a police shooting, Saquon Barkley wonders, “What if that was my brother?”
Then he thinks about the possibility it could’ve been his father.
Alibay Barkley was manhandled and tazed during a 2016 dispute with police over a bus ticket in Pennsylvania, according to a discrimination lawsuit obtained by The Post.
“In that little situation right there, you could lose someone that you really care about,” Barkley said. “You can’t look at it as, ‘It’s Jacob Blake.’ You have to look at it as, ‘What if I was in that situation? What if it was your brother or your cousin? What if it was Shep or Golden [Giants teammates Sterling Shepard and Golden Tate]?”
Barkley’s father and the Kotsatos Law firm settled the suit — claiming race was a factor in police using “excessive force” — against the Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority and the city of Allentown for $45,000 in April 2018, just days before the Giants drafted Saquon. The city argued force was reasonable because of Alibay’s refusal to reswipe his ticket when asked, according to The Morning Call.
“I remember that phone call I got from my mom that my dad was mishandled,” Barkley said. “At the time, they thought my dad was wrong, but we went through it and found out my dad was right, which obviously I knew. I’ll never forget I was walking to the Lasch Building back at Penn State. My mom was really worried and concerned my dad was Tased hard. I remember how I felt in that moment: It hurt me.”
The memory inspires Barkley to use his platform as an NFL star crossing into pop culture fame to fight for social and racial justice. He is in the process of launching the Michael Ann & Saquon Barkley Hope Foundation, named after his grandmother.
“I understand that God put me in a situation to use my voice,” Barkley said. “I’m big on knowing my history, especially with athletes — the Bill Russells and Colin Kaepernicks of the world, and how they were able to handle those situations and create conversation that you have to have with yourself: What can you do? That’s just a start.”
The non-fatal shooting of Blake by Wisconsin police earlier this week sparked NBA, WNBA, MLB and MLS teams to refuse to play games out of protest. Several NFL teams canceled practices, though the Giants were on the field Thursday morning.
Barkley and Shepard did not rule out boycotting regular-season games, but there is no indication that possibility has been discussed within the team at this point.
“My thoughts and prayers go to Jacob Blake’s family,” Barkley said. “On the video ... it makes you sick. Especially being a black man, knowing how my parents raised me. When you see those situations continue to happen, words really can’t describe.”
Barkley and Shepard both were part of a video of NFL players calling for the league to condemn
racism, after the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minnesota police.
Giants coach Joe Judge is letting players drive the team’s response, which included the possibility of canceling practice.
“We felt we wanted to continue to practice if we were all in the right mind space, which we agreed we were,” Barkley said. “There is a situation going on in this world that needs to be fixed, and it’s not going to be solved in one day, so we try to find how we can impact our community and challenge other teams to do it in their community so we can spark a change.”
A meeting for players, coaches and team ownership was scheduled Thursday night, and Judge didn’t want to deal beforehand in hypotheticals of canceling Friday’s scrimmage. Giants co-owner John Mara is the chairman of the league’s Management Council Executive
Committee.
“He’s been great, letting his team talk and really coming up with a plan,” Shepard said of Mara. “That’s what we’re in the process of doing. He’s been very supportive of all of us”
Shepard, the longest-tenured NFL player in New York City, declined to speculate on a possible boycott of regular-season games and on possible actions the Giants will take in response.
“I kind of use football as an escape,” Shepard said. “It’s been real hard to use it as an escape when you see what’s going on around the world.
“It’s sad that we have to take the time away from football and preparing for a season that is coming up here pretty soon to talk about these things, another senseless shooting that’s happened. It’s sad that it has to be that way.”