The records are great but not what really matters to Saquon Barkley

At the time, 1,607 yards seemed like a lot of yards.

A lot of yards.

LeSean McCoy led the NFL with his Eagles record 1,607 yards in 2013, and that was enough for him to earn 1^st-team all-pro honors and finish second to Peyton Manning for Offensive Player of the Year.

Only 16 other backs in the last 45 years have rushed for 1,600 yards and a 5.0 average in a season.

And here comes Saquon Barkley not just breaking Shady’s record but doing it in 13 games.

While averaging a full yard per carry more.

Shady’s franchise record stood for 11 years. Saquon’s might last forever.

Barkley did the inevitable Sunday, rushing for 127 yards in the Eagles’ 22-16 win over the Panthers, increasing his 2024 total to 1,623 and breaking McCoy’s franchise record for rushing yards in a season.

With four games left.

“I think it's pretty cool,” Barkley said. “The most important thing was getting a win. And we got a win. But, you know, being a fan of Shady's growing up, and seeing the type of things he's able to do with the ball in his hands and to be able to have my name mentioned with him, it definitely means a lot. But a lot of credit to the guys up front. They made my job a lot easier.

“It’s all good, the records are great, put a smile on your face. But the season’s far from over and there are a lot of other things that we would love to accomplish. So go home, smile, probably give (girlfriend) Anna and (kids) Jada and Saquon a kiss and watch film and get ready for the Steelers.”

Barkley is having one of the finest seasons ever by a Philadelphia Eagle at any position, and by the time the regular season is over he’ll own every franchise rushing record there is.

His 6.1 average is more than half a yard higher than the record of 5.4 set by Timmy Brown in 1965 (minimum 10 carries per scheduled team game). His ninth 100-yard game Sunday broke a tie with Wilbert Montgomery for the most in Eagles history. His fourth consecutive 100-yard game tied Steve Van Buren’s record set in 1948. His 255 yards against the Rams broke McCoy’s single-game record by 38 yards. 

“I wouldn’t say single-season or single-game records are important to me,” Barkley said after the game Sunday. “It’s all part of the process. … I’m very aware that God’s blessed me with a tremendous talent and put me in a great situation here with the Philadelphia Eagles, and that was the reason why I wanted to come here, to be able to play behind (that offensive line) and be able to play with this organization, to be able to do stuff like that. 

“The consistency part is not focusing on single-game or single-season records, the consistency part is focused on how great can I be every single day. Kind of similar to (Kobe Bryant’s) Mamba mentality, trying to be the best version of myself every single day. 

“And it’s a challenging thing to do. It’s easy to get caught up in what you guys are saying or what people are saying about me. But the reason we’re at this point is because I’ve been able to do that.”

Breaking McCoy’s record was really a stop along the way to even greater accomplishments.

Barkley is on pace for 2,122 yards, which would be the most in NFL history. Eric Dickerson ran for 2,105 yards in 16 games in 1984. 

“Yeah, I saw (Dickerson) say something about, ‘Go get it,’” Barkley said. “I think honestly that would be extremely cool to do but if it happens it happens. Not with the mindset that I’m scared to go try to do it, but whatever it takes to win football games, and if that’s in the way of it that’s in the way of it. If it’s not, it doesn’t matter to me. 

“I want to win football games and I want to do something special for this city and I think we all know what that is.”

In terms of yards per game, Barkley’s 124.8 is 15^th-highest in history, but what sets Barkley apart is that monster 6.1 average. Only three backs have averaged 120 yards per game and 6.1 per carry in a season – Jim Brown in 1963, Barry Sanders in 1997 and Barkley. 

“I want to be great,” Barkley said. “It’s kind of like, for me personally I did it in high school, I did it at Penn State, I’m always going to have a sour taste in my mouth because I don’t think I was able to do that in New York, to be honest, the way that I would like to so I’m thankful with the new start that I have here.

“And with that being said, it’s accomplishing things like I did (Sunday), putting my name up there and (being) mentioned with the greats and there’ve been a lot of great running backs that have come out of Philadelphia.”

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