The NFL single-season rushing record has stood for 40 years, much longer than Saquon Barkley has been on this planet.

But now, with two games left to play, the Philadelphia Eagles running back is 268 yards away from surpassing the mark set by Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson, who set a league record of 2,105 with the Rams in 1984.

The 27-year-old Barkley, who signed with the Eagles last offseason after spending the early part of his career with the rival New York Giants, is also 162 yards away from becoming the ninth player to rush for 2,000 yards in a season is.

The other seven are Adrian Peterson (2,097 with Minnesota in 2012), Jamal Lewis (2,066 with Baltimore in 2003), Barry Sanders (2,053 with Detroit in 1997), Derrick Henry (2027 with Tennessee in 2020) and Terrell Davis (2,008 with Denver). in 1998), Chris Johnson (2,006 with Tennessee in 2009) and OJ Simpson (2,003 with Buffalo in 1973).

The Eagles end the regular season with home games against the Dallas Cowboys and the Giants.

Dickerson spoke to the Times this week about Barkley, running backs in general, the Rams and the thought that his longtime record could disappear:

How do you feel about the possibility of Barkley breaking your single-season rushing record?

I don’t think he’ll break it. But if he breaks it, he breaks it. Do I want him to destroy it? Absolutely not. I don’t make any compromises. But I’m not complaining about it. He had 17 games to do that? Hey, football is football. That’s how I see it. If he is lucky enough to get over 2,000 yards and set the record, that will be a great record.

So the 17 games part doesn’t bother you even though you set it to 16 games?

OJ Simpson was my favorite player. He rushed for over 2,000 yards in 14 games. It took me 15 games to get to 2,000. I had an extra game to play. Reaching the 2,000 mark is an achievement in itself. I came close three more times.

Are you looking at it from the perspective that the record will eventually fall?

I’ve always said that the best way I’ll last the longest is to set the rookie record of 1,808. Because you only have one chance at that. You’re only a newbie once.

What do you think of Barkley as a defenseman?

I like him. But I like big backs. He doesn’t have a big back like me. He’s elusive, he’s tough, he runs hard, he can catch the ball out of the backfield. I think he’s a great player.

I always felt like he would never reach his potential in New York. You could take Emmitt Smith and bring him to Cleveland and he would never have been the Emmitt Smith we know now.

So it’s location, location, location?

Yes. Even myself. If I had been put on a bad team in Cincinnati, I would never have been that guy. Because these bad football teams have no blocks, I don’t care how great you are. If you don’t have the guys in front of you, you can’t do it.

And that’s why you go out of your way to thank your blockers?

I saw what (San Francisco quarterback) Brock Purdy did with his offensive line and bought them those Tundras. I got a text from Jackie (Slater, Hall of Fame Rams tackle): “Hey man, where’s my Tundra?” I told him I was making $175,000 at the time. I could afford like two Tundras and be broke.

Will you be tuning in to see Barkley?

I don’t sit down and watch games except the Rams and I work for the team. But I have no choice but to keep going because I get so many text messages. People who blow up my phone are like, “Man, that’s not fair. He gets 17 games” or: “We’re going to put a hex on him.”

Any thoughts on Rams running back Kyren Williams?

I like him as a back. He can carry the ball 29, 28, 27 times. This takes a toll on you. I did it, but there are very few backs who can do it. He’s not a really big guy, so that says a lot about him as a player and what Sean McVay thinks of him. I look at McVay and think he’s done a fantastic job coaching this team.

Do you think McVay should be in the Coach of the Year conversation?

Of course he does. He probably won’t get it because they’ll give it to a coach who’s 15-2 or 14-3. But McVay has a young team, a team that at one point was decimated by injuries. They lost (four out of five) and didn’t look good. And right now they are in position to win the NFC West. What else does it take (to win Coach of the Year)?

Back to Barkley: Are you surprised the Giants let him go?

Let me tell you something. When you look at certain people who run these teams, some of them have as much sense as I did as President of the United States. That’s about as much as they should manage a football team.

Did you know that in my contract when the Rams traded me to the Colts, I couldn’t return to the NFC for five years? They put that clause there.

The Eagles end the regular season against the Giants. If the record is up for grabs…

A real team would say, “Oh no, you can’t get that record from us.” But how ironic it would be for him to break the record with them, the team that let him go. A real slap in the face.