Not every record is meant to be broken.
Just ask Eric Dickerson, who has flashed back to 1984 in tapping competitive juices as Saquon Barkley closes in on his NFL single-season rushing mark of 2,105 yards. The phenomenal Philadelphia Eagles running back rushed a season-high 31 times for 167 yards on Sunday to crack the 2,000-yard barrier.
With 2,005 yards on 345 carries this season, that leaves Barkley 101 yards from topping the Hall of Famer’s record that has stood for 40 years.
“These people who say, ‘records are meant to be broken,’ you ain’t got no record,” Dickerson told USA TODAY Sports on Sunday, after Barkley ripped off his 11th 100-yard game of the season at the expense of the Dallas Cowboys.
“You don’t have one. When you get those records, you want to hang on to them. No matter if it was in bowling and you had 30 strikes in a row, you don’t want nobody to break that. The fastest mile ever, you don’t want nobody to break that. Those are true accomplishments. You can always look back and that record’s been held for 40 years now.”
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Don’t blame Dickerson, 64, for wanting to keep such a significant piece of his NFL legacy intact. He’s only human. And he paid the price for his football career to the point that it’s difficult for him to get a good night’s sleep due to chronic pain that lingers from old injuries.
So, if the man is, well, a bit possessive, he’s earned the right.
But facts are facts. And certain storylines are too good to be true. Barkley can break the record in the regular-season finale next weekend against the New York Giants, of all teams. Barkley played the first six seasons of his NFL career with the Giants, who were content to see him walk away last offseason as a free agent – a scenario that began to take form in 2023 when the team led by general manager Joe Schoen and coach Brian Daboll opted to sign since-released quarterback Daniel Jones to a four-year, $160 million contract rather than keep the star runner locked up with a long-term deal.
With Philadelphia (13-2) clinching the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoffs with their 41-7 blowout win on Sunday, it is unclear whether or how much Barkley will play in a Week 18 game with no bearing on the playoff standing.
Regardless, Dickerson is hardly the only one who grasps the irony of Barkley potentially breaking the record against the Giants.
“When he went to the Giants, I said he’d never reach his potential playing for them,” Dickerson said, mindful that New York drafted Barkley second overall from Penn State in 2018. “I saw that. I said, ‘They’re terrible.’ I felt bad for him.
“That they were stupid enough to (let him go to a team in) their division, that’s on them. They ought to put the ‘jackass suit’ on for that. Whoever made that call should be fired. That was just dumb.”
Although Dickerson would love to see his 1984 record survive, he is hardly hating on Barkley. He also takes solace in the fact that he achieved his mark during a 16-game season, breaking the then-record of 2,003 yards that O.J. Simpson set during a 14-game season in 1973. Dickerson, who starred for the Los Angeles Rams, broke Simpson’s record in the 15th game – when they played without a bye week. Now Barkley could possibly seize the mark in 17 games.
As Dickerson sees it, there’s no need for an asterisk. After all, Barkley is the ninth player to crack 2,000 rushing yards in a season.
“Hey, that’s football,” Dickerson said. “I still don’t think it takes anything away from him. Getting 2,000 yards is tough. It’s hard to do. I thought I could do it more than once. I got close a couple times but was never able to do it again. Everything has to go perfect. You have to have the right team, you have to have the right quarterback. Luckily, he’s got a guy like Jalen Hurts. I didn’t have a Jalen Hurts; I had a great offensive line.”
It’s worth getting Dickerson to recall the day he broke Simpson’s mark. The Rams, en route to a wild-card berth, hosted the 3-11 Houston Oilers at Anaheim Stadium. He needed 214 yards to break the record – and wound up with a season-high 215 yards.
“I thought I’d make 140, 150 against Houston, and then I’d probably make it the next week against the San Francisco 49ers,” Dickerson reflected. “That game got heated. Me and (Keith) Bostic, we got into a fight.
“I was like, ‘Hey, you mother … I’m going to break this record on y’all … today!’ I didn’t talk much as a player, but I got to talking to the offensive line. I was pissed. And we started running the ball.”
Dickerson remembers that with the record secured, Rams coach John Robinson took him out of the game with about five minutes on the clock.
Interestingly, with nothing to play for in Week 16 because the home wild-card game was set, Dickerson played against the 49ers and rushed for 98 yards.
Now, all these years later, Barkley is on the brink – much to Dickerson’s chagrin.
With Barkley so close, any chance he’s softened his position on wanting to keep ownership of the record?
“Absolutely not!” Dickerson said. “That doesn’t even make sense. Like I told the guy earlier, I don’t want nobody to break my record. He even said if he breaks it, he doesn’t want anybody to break his. I get it.”
Well, there is one person Dickerson would relish breaking his record. It’s his 12-year-old son, Dallis.
Dallis doesn’t play tackle football yet, but he is a running back on his flag football team.
“Last year, he asked his mom, ‘What’s that record my dad had?’ ”
2,105.
“‘I want to break that record one day.’”
“I don’t know if he’ll play pro football, but if he does, I’d love to see him break it,” Dickerson said.
Then there’s the other record that Dickerson insists will be much tougher to break. In 1983, the Southern Methodist University product set the NFL’s rookie rushing record with 1,808 yards.
“That’s going to be almost impossible to break,” he predicted. “I didn’t plan on them building the offense around me as a rookie. That just doesn’t happen for a rookie these days. And they don’t run the ball like that with rookies, anyway.”
Maybe that’s the one not meant to be broken.
Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Jarrett Bell on X @JarrettBell.