Barry Word
Barry Quentin Word (born July 17, 1964) is a former American football running back for the National Football League.
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| Position: | Running back | ||||||||
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| Born: | January 17, 1964 Pittsylvania County, Virginia | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| College: | Virginia | ||||||||
| NFL Draft: | 1986 / Round: 3 / Pick: 62 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
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College
Word played college football at the University of Virginia. In 1985, he ran for 1224 yards, which is currently the fifth largest rushing yards total put up by a Virginia Cavaliers running back. Also in 1985, Word was the Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year. He was drafted in the 3rd round, 62nd overall, by the New Orleans Saints. In 1987, he and two other Virginia athletes were indicted on cocaine distribution charges. Word pleaded guilty, and his willingness to cooperate and his limited involvement in the case meant he only received 5 months in prison.[1]
He now lives in Haymarket, Virginia and owns SpeedPro Imaging of Centreville, a wide-formating printing company.
NFL career
After Word’s release from prison, he signed a three-year contract with the Saints. He ran for 1033 yards in 1987, his rookie year. In 1988, however, he fell to third-string running back for the Saints behind Rueben Mayes and Dalton Hilliard, two running backs drafted by the Saints the prior year. He started the entire 1989 season before being picked up by the Kansas City Chiefs before the start of the 1990 season. Word had a career year in 1990, rushing for 1015 yards on 204 carries, garnering NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award for his performance. He split carries with Christian Okoye during the 1990 season as well as the next two years. At the start of the 1994 season Word was traded to the Minnesota Vikings, starting 8 games. He ran for 847 yards on 142 carries. He was signed by the Cardinals at the start of the 1994 season. He only played one game, with 345 rushing yards, and retired. He has said that being able to retire early is not a bad thing, and said as much to Tiki Barber when Barber was set to retire concluding the 2006 season.[2]
References
- "SPORTS PEOPLE; Virginia Star Pleads". The New York Times. July 30, 1986. Retrieved 2009-10-03.
- "Barber has no regrets about hanging them up". Archived from the original on 2008-12-02. Retrieved 2007-01-01.