The NFL single-season rushing record has stood for 40 years, far longer than Saquon Barkley’s record on this planet.
But now, with two games remaining, the Philadelphia Eagles running back is 268 yards away from passing the record set by Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson, who set the league record with 2,105 yards with the Rams in 1984. .
Barkley, 27, who signed with the Eagles last offseason after spending the first half of his career with the rival New York Giants, is also 162 yards away from becoming the ninth player to rush for 2,000 yards in a season.
The other seven are Adrian Peterson (2,097 games with Minnesota in 2012), Jamal Lewis (2,066 games with Baltimore in 2003), Barry Sanders (2,053 games with Detroit in 1997), and Derrick Henry (2020 with Tennessee). (2,027 games) and Terrell Davis (2,008 games with Denver). 1998), Chris Johnson (2,006 with Tennessee in 2009) and OJ Simpson (2,003 with Buffalo in 1973).
The Eagles conclude the regular season with home games against the Dallas Cowboys and Giants.
Dickerson spoke to the Times this week about Barkley, running backs in general, the Rams, and the idea that his long-standing record will be erased.
What do you think about Barkley’s chances of breaking your single-season rushing record?
I don’t think he’ll break it. But if he breaks it, he breaks it. Do you want him to break it? Absolutely not. I have nothing to say about it. But I’m not whining about it. Did he have 17 games to accomplish that? Hey, football is football. I think so. If he’s lucky enough to surpass 2,000 yards, that would be a great record.
Does that mean I don’t care about the 17 game part even if I set it to 16 games?
O.J. Simpson was my favorite player. He had 14 games with over 2,000 yards. It took 15 games to reach 2,000. We needed to play one more game. Reaching 2,000 is an accomplishment in itself. I came close to it about three other times.
Eric Dickerson (left) meets his favorite player, O.J. Simpson, at a San Francisco hotel in 1984.
(Paul Sakuma/AP)
Do you look at it from the perspective of ultimately losing records?
I’ve always said that the longest standing is me setting a rookie record of 1,808. Because it only takes one shot. You are a one-time rookie.
What do you think of Barkley as a back?
I like him. But I like big backs. He doesn’t have a big back like me. He is elusive, tough, runs hard and can catch the ball out of the backfield. I think he’s a great player.
When he was in New York, I always felt like he would never reach his potential. If you took Emmitt Smith to Cleveland, he wouldn’t have become the Emmitt Smith we know today.
So, is it location, location, location?
yes. Even myself. If you had put me on a bad team in Cincinnati, I would never have become that guy. I don’t care how great you are because you’re a bad football team with no blocks. You can’t do that without the players in front of you.
Is that why you go to such lengths to thank your blockers?
You saw (San Francisco quarterback) Brock Purdy buy them Tundra on the offensive line. I got a text from Jackie (Slater, Hall of Fame Rams tackle) saying, “Hey, where’s my Tundra?” I told him I was making $175,000 at the time. I could have afforded a couple of Tundras, but I was broke.
Are you planning on watching Berkeley?
I don’t sit and watch games other than the Rams, and I work for the team. But I get so many text messages that I have no choice but to keep going. The people who blew up my phone said, He’s going to get 17 games” or “We’re going to hex him.”
Any thoughts on the Rams running back Kyren Williams?
I like him as a back. He’s been able to carry the ball 29, 28, 27 times. It becomes a burden for you. I was able to do that, but very few backs can do that. He’s not really a big guy, so that says a lot about him as a player and what Sean McVay thinks of him. Looking at McVay, I think he’s done a great job coaching this team.
Do you think McVay should be in the Coach of the Year conversation?
Of course it is. He probably won’t get it because you’re going to give it to a 15-2 or 14-3 coach. However, McVay’s team was young and at one point was decimated by injuries. They lost (4 out of 5) and weren’t doing well. And now they are in position to win the NFC West. What else does it take (to win Coach of the Year)?
In November, the Eagles’ Saquon Barkley ran past Rams safety Quentin Lake. He ran for 255 yards against the Rams.
(Wally Scully/Los Angeles Times)
Back to Barkley, were you surprised the Giants let him go?
Let me tell you something. When you look at certain people who run these teams, some of them are as rational as I am the President of the United States. That’s how much they need to spend to run a soccer team.
In my contract, when the Rams traded me to the Colts, did you know I couldn’t go back to the NFC for five years? They put that clause in there.
The Eagles close out the regular season against the Giants. If I could get the record…
A real team would think, “Oh no, they won’t give us a record like that.” But how ironic that he would break the record of the team that let him go. It’s a real slap in the face.
