Saquon Barkley and Shannon Furman first connected when Barkley was a freshman at Penn State. Furman, who works at NFL Films, spoke to a class at State College and Barkley approached her after the lesson.

The two have stayed in touch ever since, Barkley reaching out from time-to-time with questions about film and how projects like the "Last Dance" documentary on Michael Jordan work.

So, when Barkley's historic 2024 season ended with Midnight Green confetti and a Lombardi Trophy, Furman figured it wouldn't hurt to ask if Barkley wanted to make a film.

"What if I already have something?" Barkley responded.

Over the last five years, Barkley worked with a camera crew to compile roughly 700 hours of footage across 127 days of filming. He sat down for about 35 interviews, using the camera as his "diary." The filming started on the day of Barkley's ACL surgery in late 2020 and went through his entire first season with the Eagles.

It culminated in over an hour and a half of exclusive, behind-the-scenes footage to create "SAQUON", which will air Thursday on Prime Video. The film shows how Barkley overcame a major injury, leaned on his family during difficult times, and more.

However, there was a time when it seemed the documentary would have a completely different tone.

The film's director, Alex Pappas, first met Barkley on the day of his surgery. Pappas was brought in by his friend, Mason Eways, to help capture footage, and his role grew from there.

Pappas worked closely with the Director of Photography Chris Scamurra over the five years as the two were usually the only people in the room when Barkley filmed his sit-down interviews. Pappas remembers about a year or two into filming, as Barkley was overcoming a serious ankle injury, when the running back spoke up.

"He was being apologetic to us," Pappas said. "He's like, 'I'm sorry, the story couldn't be better right now.' ... There was a period there where we weren't exactly sure how to put an exclamation point on this. I think it was going to be more of a sad story than anything."

Obviously, the situation changed.

Barkley signed with the Eagles after six seasons in New York and set the NFL record for the most rushing yards in the regular season and postseason combined. He won AP Offensive Player of the Year honors and Super Bowl LIX.

That's when everyone decided there's no better time than now to release the documentary.

"I didn't expect it to be a five-year thing," Barkley said last week. "Then it came to me coming here and kind of having my ending on that part of my life and part of my career. But I just want to be a story that kids growing up, whether you play sports or not, can relate to when they're going through adversity and show who I was in that moment. And when you keep your head down and trust the process and you don't let your faith waver, sometimes you come out at the end of the tunnel with a lot of glory."

Pappas lives in Los Angeles and made several trips to the East Coast during the five years. He helped capture some never-before-seen moments, and through that time developed a relationship with Barkley.

"SAQUON" shows Barkley's unique perspective in real time and gives fans a chance to see what one of the game's best players is like off the field.

"He does say the right things, as do most of these professional athletes, but he's genuine as he does it," Pappas said. "But I do think, peel back the curtains, and you kind of do see him as a nuanced person for the first time, really. ... I don't think the public has ever really seen him as a vulnerable human being at this level.

"I think they're going to appreciate him even more for the human being that he actually is, and not just this famous person that they don't really know. I'm hoping by the end of the film, people will know him as well as I do."

Once the team decided now was the time to release the film, it needed to be put together.

LVI Entertainment, which helped produce the documentary, first partnered with NFL Films to put everything together and then reached an agreement with Amazon. Furman said she received all the footage around Memorial Day and had to help piece everything together. As the documentary began to take shape, film icon Martin Scorsese served as a high-level producer, providing his thoughts.

For Barkley, he said the entire process of the documentary helped him reflect on decisions he made. He saw scenarios where he could have been wrong and others where he made the right move.

Barkley said it helped him grow as a person, and fans around the world will get a look into that journey on Thursday.

"The big thing I do like about the doc, though, it's not supposed to make me look perfect or [like] some star," Barkley said. "If you look at the 'Last Dance,' I think that was a great chance for guys to really get to know Michael Jordan, the killer mindset that he had, and how great of a player he was. Yes, I had the phenomenal season last year, but I think it's relatable for a lot of people that go through adversity in life." — Written by Matt Ryan