Editor’s Note: With the football season about to start again, we re-publish our exclusive interview with Eric Dickerson, the NFL’s 9th all-time leading rusher, from November 2021.
“Guys have gotten really close, but it’s tough because everything has got to go perfect,” Eric Dickerson said of his single season rushing record, which turns 40 years old this season.
“Can’t get hurt- I was hurt too, but I had the kind of injury I could play through it, you can’t fall behind too early because if you do, you’re passing the football and you have to have some big games, 100+ back to back and then do it again.
“Even to get 2,000, let alone 2,105. And (the opposing) defense takes it personal- I always tell people those are professionals on the other side of the ball.”
Eric Dickerson still holds two prominent NFL rushing records, one of which could be broken, and another that most likely never will be.
“Like I said everything has to go perfect,” he continued.
“It’s like Derrick Henry, he got it (2,027 yards in 2020) last year and was ahead of the pace this year, and he got hurt. I was ahead of the pace a couple times, and although I got there, I just couldn’t get there again.”
A couple of players have come awfully close to breaking his single season rushing yards record, but with the NFL being a more passing-oriented league these days, one wonders if it really could get ever eclipsed.
His rookie season rushing record is likely very safe, because it’s very hard to imagine any NFL team building their offense around a first year player (who is not a quarterback) these days.
“Some of those records will stand the test of time,” he said.
“They certainly have so far.”
“The one that I think will last the longest is my rookie rushing record- 1808 yards, 20 touchdowns. The great thing about that record is you get one shot at it, you can only be a rookie one time and most teams don’t build an offense around a rookie.
“I’m not saying the Rams planned on building around me, it just kind of happened and we got off to a hot start.”
That was 1983, then in 1984 came the 2000+ yard season, as he began cementing his NFL legacy.
Eric Dickerson Exclusives:
Part 1 NFL Material/Exposing the League’s Hypocrisy Part 2 Re-examining His Records
Part 3 College Football Content/Hitting Out at the NCAA Part 4 ’85 NFC Title Game/His NFL Records
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter.