Legendary running back Eric Dickerson raised eyebrows when he recently admitted he does not want Saquon Barkley of the Philadelphia Eagles to break the single-season record of 2,105 rushing yards that Dickerson set during the 1984 campaign.
Barkley will enter this coming Sunday's regular-season finale versus the New York Giants, his former club, 101 yards on the ground shy of surpassing Dickerson's mark. During the latest edition of his "Big Play Slay" podcast, Eagles cornerback Darius Slay reacted to Dickerson's take on Barkley's potential pursuit of history.
"He was kind of low-key hating on Saquon, talking about how he doesn’t want him to break it," Slay said about Dickerson, as shared by Chris Franklin of NJ Advance Media for NJ.com. "We have records for records to be broken. Your record’s been standing for so long. Pass the torch. There’s nothing wrong with that. People just be scared to pass the torch, and he needs to pass it. I just don’t like how he said it. It makes you feel like the old heads are just hating, and we should not be hating on anybody. We all want greatness for each other."
The truth of the matter is that Dickerson may not have anything to worry about by the time Sunday rolls around. As much as Barkley may want to break the record while facing the team that failed to give him the long-term contract he desired over the previous two offseasons, the Eagles are locked into the No. 2 seed for the NFC portion of the postseason tournament and, thus, have little reason to risk his health at Lincoln Financial Field.
Per Ryan O'Leary of The Sporting News, ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter directly said on Monday that he "would be floored if Saquon Barkley is on the field this weekend" versus the Giants because the 13-3 Eagles are "trying to get a Super Bowl." Meanwhile, it sounds like Slay would be supportive if head coach Nick Sirianni gave Barkley some touches in Week 18.
"I still respect this game, and I think [Dickerson] is still a great legend, but he shouldn’t have said it like that. He sounds like a true hater," Slay added during the podcast. "A real big-time hater."
Regardless of whether or not Dickerson was being a "hater," it appears the single-season rushing record will remain his through at least the majority of 2025.
