Childhood neighbors praise local star
COPLAY, Pa. — Here in this close-knit little town of 3, 500 people, they are counting down the hours until the native son they call Sa Sa (pronounced: Say Say) is welcomed into the NFL on Thursday night — possibly by the nearby New York Football Giants.
At Samuel Owens Casual Family Dining across the street from where the Barkley family lives in a red brick row home on North Second Street, they have scheduled a draft party Thursday night.
“I got people calling up left and right for reservations,” owner William Loy said. “People are coming at 5 just to get a seat.”
Stacey Oswald, a waitress at Samuel Owens, has known Barkley since he was a tot growing up in an apartment on nearby Front Street.
“My son Joey was playing football with him in the snow and Joey’s kneecap popped out,” she said. “I’m a Cowboy fan, but I’ll take him with the Giants!”
To a man and to a woman, Saquon Barkley is too good to be true.
“Very nice boy, and his brothers and sisters are very nice,” said Linda Schmall, a neighbor of the family. “Polite, courteous. His parents are great. They’re very nice neighbors.”
Alicia Knauff is the assistant principal at Whitehall High School, where Barkley was as dynamic on the football field as he is humble off it. Her daughter Shadimon Navarro has been friends with him since middle school.
“The fo otball booster club is sponsoring a draft party at a local restaurant in Allentown for Whitehall alums, for Whitehall students, people in the community,” she said. “I think people have been talking about him since this journey started, and it really kind of has exploded. Because I think people that only knew him on the surface that like once he started to get a little bit of fame that things would probably change — and that never happened.”
She knew her daughter would be in good hands with Barkley.
“I’m an assistant principal. I never would let my daughter go to any parties. I was always like, ‘Whatever you do is a reflection of me,” Knauff said. “And I remember after senior prom, he’s like, ‘C’mon, just let her go with me out after prom. It will be fine, I promise you. I’m not gonna jeopardize my scholarship. Just let her go with me, Miss Knauff.’”
Stacey beams as she shows off the Twitter photo of Barkley holding his newborn daughter in his arms.
“He’s just that kind of kid everyone knew,” Knauff said. And liked. “I can’t even think of a bad story to give you,” Knauff said. “The worst thing that they did is, I think, like run through the halls to get to lunch early or pretend like they were playing games in the halls like they were 10-year-olds, but they’re in high school.”
Whitehall football coach Brian Gilbert can imagine Barkley running wild inside MetLife Stadium.
“It’s gonna be a highlight film,” Gilbert said. “Hold your breath every time he gets the ball. Giant fans are gonna be in for a treat. It could be really electric there in that stadium, with Eli [Manning], Odell [Beckham Jr.] and the rest of the crew. I think it could be very special.”