PHILADELPHIA — Saquon Barkley has said he wasn’t afraid to make history. Chasing Eric Dickerson’s record was something he wanted to chase and something his teammates wanted to help him achieve.
Barkley let the decision fall to the Eagles. They decided to rest him for the end of Week 18 against the New York Giants, as Barkley will finish his season with 2,005 yards, 101 shy of breaking Dickerson’s 40-year-old record.
“When I fell asleep, I thought this was an opportunity to embed my name in football history,” Barkley said. “You may never get a chance like that again, so I’m down. But I don’t care if I’m putting the team at risk. He’s the head coach for that reason. He makes the decisions and any decisions he wanted to make.” .
“If he wanted me to play, I would go out and make sure we got it. If we don’t, I’d be okay with that, too.”
Barkley’s goal was to get 2,000 yards when he knew he was within striking distance, specifically in 16 games. He was happy with becoming the ninth player in NFL history to reach that milestone. After seeing how much his teammates wanted him to achieve that record, Barkley’s mindset changed.
“I think it’s cool that as much as I wanted the record, the linemen wanted it too,” Barkley said. “My name would be the one that’s there, in the history books, they would have been the ones to do it for me.”
Barkley passed up the opportunity to set the single-season rushing record against the Giants, something he had in mind. This was not an opportunity to tell his former team.
“It would have been special to do it against the Giants, but not for the reasons you probably would perceive,” Barkley said. “At the end of the day, I got nothing but love and respect for those guys over there. There are a lot of trainers, trainers and strength guys that helped me with my ACL, helped me with my injuries and I couldn’t be the player who I am today without those guys there too. So it would have been like a coming full circle moment.
“At the end of the day, it’s not in God’s plan. He had more important things on his mind. We have a chance to rest and prepare for the playoffs.”
Barkley may have a chance to set the single-season rushing record, as no player who ran for 2,000 yards in a season has ever reached that milestone again. Eric Dickerson came closest to achieving 2,000 yards again, finishing with 1,821 yards in 1986 after his 2,000-yard campaign.
There is one current player who can break that narrative that Barkley wanted to remind everyone: Derrick Henry. The Baltimore Ravens running back has 1,783 yards this season, 217 shy of being the first player to have multiple 2,000-yard seasons.
“I’m not going to lie, I knew that number,” Barkley said with a smile. “I told him, you can do something special too. Be the first to do it twice. You never know, that’s life. I don’t know what will happen tomorrow. I can’t guarantee anything, but my mindset is to finish the season strong and try to achieve what we want to achieve 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 to break the rushing record in a single season will have to wait another year, if Barkley ever gets that chance again. If Henry doesn’t get 223 yards this week, Barkley would be the rushing champion. That is also an important milestone for him.
“It would mean a lot, not only to me 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 and gets 230, I won’t be mad. I’ll probably be the first one to congratulate.” him.
“I think it would be cool if in my life I get to see or play against a guy (who got 2,000 yards) twice.”
