An unexpected but welcomed takeaway from the Eagles Week 7 win over Giants

As expected, in Week 7, New York Giants fans booed Saquon Barkley on most of his touches of the football. We're guessing that means they didn't get over his departure as quickly as the new Philadelphia Eagles star expected them to. That would be a safe guess, right?

Droves of Big Blue's fans showed up to MetLife Stadium in Barkley jerseys. Some had taped over his last name. Then, a funny thing happened between 1 pm and about 4 pm EST.

Also as expected, Saquon went off versus his former teammates.

Philly's new star cooked his former team like a Sunday evening dinner warmed in the crock-pot during Sunday morning church service. Then, on some occasions, he burned them like a hot pocket left in the microwave for too long.

Once the smoke cleared and the dust settled. Mr. Barkley had notched 176 rushing yards and another TD run. That's the second-highest total by any NFL player in history versus his former team. In 2009, Cedric Benson returned to Chicago to dust up the Bears for 189 yards and a rushing TD as a member of the Cincinnati Bengals.

He placed a questionable fine in his rearview mirror and offered his 'take that' moment to the NFL's league offices with another angry run.

The Eagles made football fun in Week 7 thanks to a 28-3 bludgeoning of the hated Giants, but one of our favorite takeaways from this one had nothing to do with the stat sheet.

Saquon Barkley shows humility during his victory lap in New Jersey.

Saquon Barkley's 187 total yards of offense were 68 more than the yardage total produced by the entire Giants offensive unit, and how about this for the kicker? He had ZERO CARRIES during the fourth quarter. Think what might have occurred had the game been closer.

He never demeaned anyone before kickoff. He was respectful of everyone once his revenge game had ended. It appears he also elected against making history to allow his teammates an opportunity to shine.

Here's more from Howard Eskin and his postgame interview with FOX Sports sideline reporter Kristina Pink.

It isn't common to see professional athletes put their legacies on the back burner. It's hard to blame them in that regard. It's the individual achievements that they often take with them to the negotiating table at contract time.

Sure, during his postseason discussion with the Philly media, he stated he "talked some more (expletive) than he usually does". We'll give him a pass for being competitive. It was all hugs with some former coaches and teammates before and after the game.

Barkley exhibited class during his shining moment rather than electing to beat his chest or pad his stat line. Winning in the NFL is most important. Guys think of how to earn that next huge payday as a byproduct, but that's probably our favorite takeaway from this recent win over a team we've hated since childhood.

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