Eric Dickerson Says He's a Saquon Barkley Fan, Despite Stance on Record

Eric Dickerson is setting the record straight on Saquon Barkley ... saying even though he was pulling for his single-season rushing record to survive, he's a big fan of the Philadelphia Eagles running back.

E.D. made headlines last week ... when he admitted he didn't want the 27-year-old to surpass his record of 2,105 yards.

The current rushing king faced backlash from several notable folks -- including fellow former running back LeSean McCoy, who claimed the legend was hating on his own position group during a segment on his FS1 show, "The Facility."

"Records are meant to be broken," McCoy said. "You paved the way for guys like Saquon to break the record. It's going to be a young kid; I don't know, 30 from now, 40 years from now, it's going to break Saquon's record."

"As running backs we got to stick together because they always trying to break us down. Eric Dickerson, you should do better, homie. Stop the hating and more applauding."

The 67-year-old responded by explaining his "old school" stance ... saying he knows how hard it is to get a record -- and would never root to lose it.

"I'm a Saquon Barkley fan," Dickerson said. "I never thought he would reach his full potential in New York. I'm glad to see him in Philadelphia and glad to see him get 2,000 yards."

E.D. also addressed the fact that Saquon could break the record with an extra game on the schedule -- which was also the case for Dickerson, who had that same luxury when he passed O.J. Simpson's record in 1984.

"I've always said O.J. did it in 14 games, I did it in 15, one extra game," he said. "I would never hate on another running back. That's not me. So like I said, know your history."