The 2025 ESPYS Presented by Capital One will be held on July 16 at 8 p.m. EST and the 20 categories' nominations have been revealed. Saquon Barkley, current Philadelphia Eagles running back and former Penn State football player, has been nominated for three categories: "Best Athlete - Men's Sports," "Best Play," and "Best NFL Player."
Saquon Barkley is nominated for the 2025 ESPYS' "Best Athlete - Men's Sports" and "Best NFL Player" Awards
Barkley was nominated alongside the Buffalo Bills' Josh Allen, Oklahoma City Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani. He and Allen are also nominated for the "Best NFL Player" Award. The Baltimore Ravens' Lamar Jackson and Denver Bronco's Patrick Surtain II are the other two nominees in this category.
In the 2024-25 regular season, Barkley had 345 carries for 2,005 rushing yards, 13 rushing touchdowns, 33 receptions for 278 yards, and two receiving touchdowns. His postseason run consisted of 91 carries for 499 yards, five rushing touchdowns, and 13 receptions for 75 yards. In Super Bowl LIX against the Kansas City Chiefs, Barkley had 25 carries for 57 yards with an additional six receptions for 40 yards. He was one of the top players in consideration for MVP of the Super Bowl and was also honored as the NFL's 2024-25 Offensive Player of the Year.
Saquon Barkley is nominated for the 2025 ESPYS' "Best Play" Award
On Nov. 3, 2024, Barkley's backwards hurdle would eventually be recognized as a nominee for the ESPYS' "Best Play" Award. Tyrese Haliburton's game-winner in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, Sabrina Ionescu's Logo Three game-winner in Game 3 of the WNBA Finals, and Trinity Rodman's overtime goal that sent USWNT to the 2024 Olympics semi-finals are also all up for the award.
SAQUON JUST HIT A REVERSE HURDLE ⁉️
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) November 3, 2024
OMG. 🤯
(via @NFL)pic.twitter.com/uZ11M3qA59
Philadelphia's 2024-25 team is also nominated for the ESPYS "Best Team" Award.
Barkley attended Penn State from 2015-17 before declaring for the 2018 NFL Draft. He left the Nittany Lions has the record-holder for the program's all-time rushing touchdowns and total touchdowns. The running back also set a record for all-purpose yards, a 15-game touchdown-scoring streak, becoming the first Nittany Lion and fourth Big Ten athlete to hit over 3,000 rushing yards and 1,000 receiving yards in his NCAA career. As a junior, his final year in college, he totaled 1,271 rushing yards, 18 rushing touchdowns, 54 receptions for 632 yards, and three receiving touchdowns.
The 2025 ESPYS can be watched live ABC and ESPN+ and streamed on-demand on July 17 on Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+. Fan voting is also open now until July 16 at 5 p.m. EST.