Before Lane Johnson ever blocked for Saquon Barkley, he watched him hit a golf ball.

The running back’s littered résumé required little introduction. But it didn’t take long for Johnson to warm to the star running back off the field, either.

‘I think the movies make it worse than what it needs to be. Not everybody’s really like divas or like that,’ he told reporters this week. ‘Like I said, first day we met him, we all went golfing together. We found out pretty quick he was pretty down to earth.

‘Turns out he can run the ball pretty well too.’

Seventeen wins and one historic rushing season later (Barkley’s 2,005 yards are the eighth-most of all-time, and he sat the last game), Barkley’s teammates have watched in awe as his play has helped Philly get to within one win of a тιтle.

Strip away the accolades, though, and Barkley would’ve become just as beloved by his Eagles teammates.

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‘He just won the guys,’ Johnson said.

While seeds of this Eagles season were planted in OTAs and training camp, so too was Barkley’s eventual leadership role with the team.

His humble nature and dogged work ethic were noticeable. His compeтιтive presence on team golf outings signaled to his new colleagues that he was their equal.

In virtually no time, he went from divisional rival to Philly furniture.

‘You know, he treats everybody the same,’ said backup тιԍнт end Grant Calcaterra, who has enjoyed several trips to the golf course with Barkley and recalled both hitting three-woods to within inches of each other. ‘He doesn’t have that superstar, can’t talk to anybody mentality.

‘Take away from football, just who he is as a person,’ guard Landon Dickerson began. ‘I mean, great dude… you can have lunch with him. Sit on the couch, shoot the s***.’

As a teammate, Barkley is more accessible than his superstar status and MVP buzz may lead one to believe. 

Dickerson added that he and the former Penn State standout out have engaged in ‘philosophical talks… about a lot of religion and a lot of different things.’ 

Really, Barkley – who used to babysit his high school athletic director’s two children – has always been this sort of way.

Whitehall Athletic Director Bob Hartman says Barkley hasn’t changed since high school

Barkley and his fiancé, Anna Congdon, celebrate after the NFC Championship Game with their two children

Barkley had a historically impressive season running the ball for the Philadelphia Eagles

SUPER BOWL ODDS 

Kansas City Chiefs: -120

Philadelphia Eagles: +102 

Anytime touchdown scorer: Saquon Barkley -190, Jalen Hurts -115, Travis Kelce +125, Xavier Worthy +150 

Odds are provided by FanDuel and are correct at the time of publishing 

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‘He hasn’t changed much at all,’ said Bob Hartman, the athletic director at Whitehall High School in Pennsylvania.

While the 27-year-old has matured – he and his fiancé, Anna Congdon, share two children – the ‘polite, well mannered’ teenager that Hartman remembers is still present inside the Eagles star.

Take the parallels between his leadership style in high school and the pros, for example.

He was not a ‘rah rah’ leader a decade ago, as Hartman recalls, though he still made his voice heard.

‘He definitely is the alpha, but that was ability-driven for kids, it’s what kids often look to.’

Johnson similarly said the All-Pro did not try to ‘project himself’ upon his Eagles teammates after his initial arrival, and called his acclimation to the team ‘natural.’

His ability – not to discount his hard work – can be described the same way to some degree.

‘Before, we thought he was really good. But anybody that tells you they think he’d be doing what he did now, is probably full of it,’ Hartman said.

Hartman said that when Barkley comes back to Whitehall, the running back is ‘present’

Eagles cornerback Darius Slay Jr. shares a laugh with Barkley during the Eagles Send Off Party for Super Bowl LIX

The AD recalled a sideline chat with Penn State coach James Franklin during a Whitehall at Nazareth game during Barkley’s senior year of high school, after he had pledged to play for the Nittany Lions.

‘I said, ‘So you don’t have to pull any punches anymore,” Hartman recalled. ‘He’s committed. He’s coming to Penn State. How good really is he?’’

Franklin, as Hartman remembers after the Nittany Lions coach had helicoptered in, did not downplay Barkley’s ability. The rusher’s film was ‘as good as anybody in the country.’

After three stellar years in college, and an impressive – if at times underwhelming (often for reasons out of Barkley’s control) tenure in New York, that тιтle has ballooned now to perhaps the best running back in the NFL.

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Such status has its pros and cons, at least as far as Hartman’s family is concerned.

He, his wife and his now grown-up daughter and son will have the chance to watch Barkley on the biggest stage this weekend. The teen babysitter who used to show up late to their house on occasion will be right on time for the biggest test of his life.

Of course, Barkley is less available now. The text messages and the run-ins with Hartman and his family have dried up somewhat.

That doesn’t mean he’s changed, though, as his Philly teammates would now attest. He’s just focused.

‘He’s busy now, he’s hard to get hold of. Like, all those things are real,’ Hartman said. 

‘But when he’s here, he’s here. He’s present. He’s where his feet are.’