Saquon Barkley Sells Pretzels While Announcing He's Engaged To Baby Mama

Saquon Barkley's first Super Bowl week kicked off with him announcing he's engaged while selling chocolate-covered pretzels in an exclusive interview with PEOPLE

While presumably snacking on Flipz pretzels, Barkley announced he has finally put a ring on baby mama Anna Congdon's finger after nearly a decade of dating and producing children. 

"I can't be the athlete I am and have the success I have so in my career without the help of her," the Eagles running back told PEOPLE. "She's been super helpful and always has my back, not only in football but throughout life there's a lot that goes on. But as we continue to grow and mature and go through life together, we continue getting closer and continue to get even better."

It sure sounds like a marketing agency wrote that, but we'll just go with it. 

After singing the praises of his future bride and their children, Barkley, or his marketing team, pivoted to the pretzel promotion which is required so that Barkley can get paid for his time. 

"I've been eating them for a very long time," Barkley says of the chocolate-covered pretzels. "It's an amazing snack. It's definitely a great blend of sweet and salty."

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This is the first time I can remember an NFL engagement announcement being used to sell chocolate-covered pretzels

I've been at this Super Bowl week game a long time — 17 years on the Internet — and I've never seen a marketing team use this angle to sell a brand campaign. It was genius work from Flipz. 

We're talking about a brand with just 15,000 Instagram followers dominating the Monday Super Bowl week conversation with its Saquon news. 

A quick check of Google Trends shows us that Barkley is one of the hottest search trends in the U.S. thanks to his engagement news. 

In other words, the marketing genius at Flipz who sold the engagement angle to PEOPLE deserves a raise. Those of you in the marketing business know exactly what I'm talking about. They just cut right through the Super Bowl week fog with news that this guy who's been with his baby mama for a decade finally decided to put a ring on it. 

Amazing timing. 

Written by
Joe Kinsey is the Senior Director of Content of OutKick and the editor of the Morning Screencaps column that examines a variety of stories taking place in real America. Kinsey is also the founder of OutKick’s Thursday Night Mowing League, America’s largest virtual mowing league. Kinsey graduated from University of Toledo.