Saquon Barkley's quest to break Eric Dickerson's single-season rushing record was halted by the Philadelphia Eagles' decision to rest starters in the season finale. Although Barkley fell short by 100 yards, his historic season solidified his status as one of the greatest running backs of all time.
You could feel the different pulls of legacy and family and team on Eagles running back Saquon Barkley as he stood at his locker, in a sea of cameras and reporters, and spoke about the organizational decision to end his pursuit of Eric Dickerson 's single-season rushing record . His dad, Alibay, took the news the hardest.
He had called Barkley on New Year's Day to check on him and that's when Barkley relayed the message that coach Nick Sirianni would share with the public the following day: The Eagles planned to rest their starters in the regular-season finale against Barkley's former team, the New York Giants, so they could be fresh for the playoffs, leaving Barkley 100 yards shy of hallowed ground. ' definitely wanted me to play. Selfishly for him, you've got to think about it. However long, if it took a year if I broke it for someone to break it or another 40 to 50 years, our last name would have been attached to it,' Barkley said. 'I see it from that side, too. But at the end of the day, the most important thing is winning football games, and he's the one that raised me to be all about the team. So, he can have his little selfish moment, but he'll get over it.' Barkley has not been shy about his personal goal. After a training camp practice in August, not long after leaving New York for the rival Eagles on a three-year, $38 million free agent contract that the Giants showed no interest in matching, Barkley said plainly: 'I want to be the best of all time.' He took a big swing by putting together one of the best seasons by a running back in NFL history in 2024, now just the ninth player to reach 2,000 rushing yards in a season. Becoming '2K Sa' -- the nickname Barkley posted on social media shortly after hitting the mark against the Dallas Cowboysin Week 17 -- was hard-earned. The Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, native went from high school backup to Penn State star to the Giants' No. 2 overall pic
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