While Eric Dickerson wasn’t too pleased about Saquon Barkley pursuing his regular season rushing record, Terrell Davis said he’ll be happy to see Barkley break his single-season rushing record during Super Bowl LIX.
Barkley, who passed on trying to break Dickerson’s record in Week 18 (he was 101 yards away), is 30 rushing yards away from breaking Davis’ single-season rushing record with the postseason included.
“It’s not about whether I want him to, but if somebody’s gonna break it, it couldn’t happen to a better guy,” Davis said earlier this week. “A better athlete, a better person. Excited for him, his journey, where he was last year and now, he gets a chance to be in the postseason, one game away from winning the Super Bowl. I’m happy for him.
“What’s cool about watching football this time of year is that when you turn on a game and you see your name constantly being mentioned with the best postseasons,” Davis continued. “You see the yards, the touchdowns, 100-yard games. I love seeing my name there, but again, it’s been a while, and I’m happy for him. It couldn’t happen to a better person.”
Davis is in the Hall of Fame largely because of his postseason runs with the Broncos, who won back-to-back titles largely on the strength of Davis’ running. In 1997, Davis ran for a combined 2,331 yards that included 157 yards and three touchdowns in Denver’s shocking upset of the defending champion Packers in Super Bowl XXXII. Davis was named MVP of the Broncos’ 31-24 win, the franchise’s first Super Bowl title. The Packers’ quarterbacks coach that day was current Chiefs head coach Andy Reid.
A year later, Davis won league MVP honors after rushing for 2,008 yards during the regular season. The Broncos repeated as Super Bowl champs, with Davis’ combined 2,476 rushing yards standing as the single-season record.
Barkley’s 2024 season has been eerily similar to Davis’ record-setting seasons. He ran for 2,005 yards during the regular season before rumbling for 119, 205 and 118 yards in Philadelphia’s playoff wins over the Packers, Rams and Commanders, respectively. Barkley’s 2,447 rushing yards has put him on the precipice of breaking Davis’ record.
“He’ll break it,” Davis said of Barkley. “That’s pretty cool. I can live with that.”
Barkley is surely hoping to mimic the success Davis and his teams had in the Super Bowl. On Sunday, Barkley and the Eagles will face a Chiefs defense that ranked eighth in the NFL in rushing yards allowed during the regular season. Kansas City has gone 18 straight games without allowing a 100-yard rusher.
If the Eagles win, Barkley will join Davis and fellow Hall of Fame running back Emmitt Smith as the only rushing champions to win the Super Bowl. Not bad for a player who was allowed to walk in free agency this past offseason.
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