Running back Darren Sproles made it clear why he decided to re-sign with the Eagles earlier this offseason.
Sproles planned for 2017 to be his final NFL season, but a torn ACL and broken arm meant that he spent most of the year on injured reserve. He said in May that he didn’t want that to be his final act as an NFL player and added that his daughter’s request that he play “one more year” sealed the deal for him.
Sproles repeated that inspiration in a post on his own website earlier this month while also revealing something else that’s on his mind as he gets ready for what he says will be his final year.
“I also noticed I am currently 8th on the career all-purpose yards list. Now, I doubt I’ll be able to catch #1 on the list, Jerry Rice, but with a couple good runs or a nice return, I should be able to climb past Steve Smith (7th) and Marshall Faulk (6th). It will probably take until about mid-season [maybe a little longer] but I got my eyes set on Tim Brown at #5. The only other players on the list after that are #4 Emmitt Smith, #3 Walter Payton and #2 Brian Mitchell.”
Sproles has 19,155 all-purpose yards for his career and needs 528 to pass Brown for the fifth spot. Smith piled up 21,564 yards during his career, which will likely remain out of reach unless Sproles revisits his plans to call it a career.