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LAST WORD N A T E B A U E R | N B A U E R @ B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M aquon Barkley is physically as- tounding. To those of us who have spent more than two years around the Nittany Lion phenom, his physical stature and continually expanding list of feats no longer come as much of a surprise. Most recently, Barkley posted 30 reps on the bench press for 225 pounds at the Lift for Life charity event in July, a num- ber that would have placed him first among the running backs at last year's NFL Combine. In June, he maxed-out with a 405-pound power clean. He was hand-timed at 4.33 seconds in the 40- yard dash over the winter. He per- formed seven reps at 495 pounds in the squat last year. Those numbers would match the standards of a top-five national weightlifter, but they are not the result simply of God-given, supernatural, freakish gifts. No, Barkley worked tire- lessly for these results, and to him, they do not come as a surprise. "I like [weight training] because I be- lieve it translates to the football field," he said. "I believe that helps me to be- come a better player. So I take real pride in the weight room and working out and trying to be the best I can be in the weight room, because I think it trans- lates to the field." Through his first two seasons at Penn State, the results of Barkley's work are undeniable. Penn State's career rushing record is 1,360 yards away. Thirteen touch- downs on the ground separate Barkley from that career mark. Vegas odds- makers rank him as one of the top five candidates to win the Heisman Trophy this season. Behind all of it, Barkley relishes the act of pushing up against his physical limits and exploring the depths of his individual will. The answers he finds provide a window into his true charac- ter. Those limits, he said, are only reached when he feels so exhausted that he might pass out. "I've always been that way. Not only as a player, but as a person also," Barkley said. "I feel like setting goals is some- thing that you can do and you can im- prove and be a better person in life." Barkley credits his parents with in- stilling that mindset at an early age. He was told that he could do anything he wanted if the right amount of hard work accompanied the goal, and he latched onto the concept. Aware that a 315-pound bench press wouldn't sim- ply happen, he set out to reach his goal with a combination of mental determi- nation and physical work. To transform himself from an unheralded high school football player who at one point con- sidered giving up the game altogether into a college athlete, Barkley under- stood he would need to apply himself, go out and do it. So he did. And in doing so, he found not isola- tion but commonality. As he discovered, the passion that helped fuel his rise was not unique to him. "I think anybody who's successful has that mindset or close to that mind- set," he said. "I feel like not everybody is like that [with football], but everyone is like that with something. Everyone has to have love and a passion for something. My passion is football and my love is football. Somebody's pas- sion might be schoolwork. Somebody might want to be a nurse, might want to be a doctor, and that's their passion and they apply themselves in that way. For some people, it might be photogra- phy or art. Nobody just wakes up that way." And yet, the act of setting a goal is not the same thing as constantly finding ways to achieve it. And in some re- spects, this could be Barkley's secret. His story is one of setting goals, reach- ing them, then replacing them with something even more ambitious. Assessing his certain future in the NFL, or his opportunity to actually win the Heisman, Barkley pushes aside the topics – not because they're unattain- able, but because they're merely the byproducts of the goals that actually drive him. Team success is his top prior- ity, and carries, catches and touch- downs are a means to that end. Everything else is background noise. "It might sound cliche, but it's how I honestly feel about it: I don't personally like talking about it," Barkley said. "Every college football player's goal is to make it to the NFL. But I feel like there is some stuff here that I would like to get done, whether that's academically or athletically, and I feel like if I want to be the best player that I can be this year and can help my team out and continue to grow as a player and a person and a leader, [the NFL] is something I can't focus on. "I try my best not to really focus on that and just focus on myself and focus on challenging my teammates and com- peting with them and challenging each other to become better players. That's my honest answer." Given the track record he's already demonstrated, if Barkley continues down the path he's been on since be- fore he arrived at Penn State, it won't be long before he's conquered another set of challenges and moved on to the next. ■ Goal to go S

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