Saquon Barkley OK with ending pursuit of Eric Dickerson's record as Eagles have bigger goals in mind
Saquon Barkley has said he wasn't scared of making history. Chasing Eric Dickerson's record was something he wanted to pursue and something his teammates wanted to help him achieve.
Barkley let the decision come down to the Eagles. They decided to rest him for the Week 18 finale against the New York Giants, as Barkley will end his season with 2,005 yards -- 101 shy of breaking Dickerson's 40-year-old record.
"When I slept on it, I was like this is an opportunity to implement my name in football history," Barkley said. "You may never get an opportunity like that again, so I'm down. But I don't care (about it) if I'm putting the team at risk. He's the head coach for the reason. He makes the decisions and whatever decision he wanted to make.
"If he wanted me to play, I'm gonna go out there and make sure I'd get it. If we don't, I was OK with that too."
Barkley's goal was to get 2,000 yards when he knew he was in striking distance, specifically in 16 games. He was content with becoming the ninth player in NFL history to reach that milestone. After seeing how badly his teammates wanted him to get that record, Barkley's mindset changed.
"I think it's pretty cool that as bad as I wanted the record, the linemen wanted it too," Barkley said. "My name would be the one in there, in the history books, they would have been the ones that would have done it for me."
Barkley passed on the opportunity to set the single-season rushing record against the Giants, which was in his mind. This wasn't an opportunity to rub it in to his former team.
"It would have been special to do it against the Giants, but not for the reasons how you guys would probably perceive it to be," Barkley said. "At the end of the day, I got nothing but love and respect for those guys over there. There's a lot of trainers, coaches, and strength guys that helped me out with my ACL, helped me out with my injuries, and I wouldn't be able to be the player I am today without those guys over there too. So it would have kinda been like a full circle moment.
"At the end of the day, it's not in God's plan. He had bigger things in mind. We have a chance to rest and get ready to roll for the playoffs," Barkley said.
The opportunity for Barkley to set the single-season rushing record may not come again, as no player who rushed for 2,000 yards in a season reached that milestone again. Dickerson was the closest to getting 2,000 again, finishing with 1,821 yards in 1986 after his 2,000-yard campaign.
There is a current player who may break that narrative whom Barkley wanted to remind everyone about: Derrick Henry. The Baltimore Ravens running back is at 1,783 yards this season -- 217 away from being the first player to have multiple 2,000-yard seasons.
"Not gonna lie, I knew that number," Barkley said with a smile. "I told him, you can do something special, too. Be the first one to do it twice. You never know, that's life. I don't know what's gonna happen tomorrow. I can't guarantee anything, but my mindset is to finish the season off strong and try to accomplish what we wanna accomplish as a team.
"At the same time, the way I believe in myself and continue to have faith in God -- why not? Why can't I be the first person to do that? I can be in the same position next year. This year? It's not in the plans."
The opportunity for the single-season rushing record will have to wait another year, if Barkley gets that opportunity again. If Henry doesn't get 223 yards this week, Barkley would be the rushing champion. That's an important milestone for him, too.
"It would mean a lot, not only for myself and the offensive line, but when you look at the history of the position, all the greats had at least one or two (rushing titles). I want to be one of those greats," Barkley said. "I'd love to have one of them under my belt. But at the end of the day, if Derrick goes out there and gets 230, I'm not going to be upset. I'll probably be the first one to congratulate him.
"I think it would be pretty cool that in my lifetime, I'll be able to watch or play against a guy (who got 2,000 yards) twice."
