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Pro Football Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson publicly admitted that he doesn't want Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley breaking his NFL single-season rushing record, nor does he think he'll be able to.
“I don’t think he’ll break it,” Dickerson told the Los Angeles Times. “But if he breaks it, he breaks it.”
“Do I want him to break it? Absolutely not. I don’t pull no punches on that. But I’m not whining about it," Dickerson added.
Dickerson, now 64, recorded 2,105 yards -- as well as a league-best 14 rushing touchdown -- during his second NFL season with the Los Angeles Rams in 1984, having also led the league with 1,808 yards as a rookie one season prior, doing so in 16 games. The NFL expanded its schedule to 17 games in 2021, which means Barkley, who currently has 1,838 yards, would have one extra game to surpass Dickerson with two remaining.
"He had 17 games to do it? Hey, football is football," Dickerson said via the Los Angeles Times. "That’s the way I look at it. If he’s fortunate to get over 2,000 yards and get the record, it’s a great record to have.”
Dickerson then acknowledged that he played in more games than late former Pro Football Hall of Famer O.J. Simpson when he broke the previous record.
“O.J. Simpson was my favorite player,” Dickerson said. “He went over 2,000 yards in 14 games. It took me 15 games to get to 2,000. I had one extra game to play, [too].”
Barkley, 27, signed with the Eagles this past offseason after spending his first six seasons with the NFC East Division rival New York Giants, failing to reach a long-term deal last offseason before testing free agency in 2024. The former Penn State standout currently has 526 more yards than his previously career-best total of 1,312 set in 2022.