Barry Quentin Word (born July 17, 1964) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

for the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

College

Word played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

. In 1985, he ran for 1224 yards, which is currently the fifth most rushing yards total put up by a

Virginia Cavaliers The Virginia Cavaliers, also known as ''Wahoos'' or ''Hoos'', are the athletic teams representing the University of Virginia, located in Charlottesville. The Cavaliers compete at the NCAA Division I level ( FBS for football), in the Atlantic C ...

running back. Also in 1985, Word was the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

player of the year.

NFL career

Barry Word was drafted in the 3rd round, 62nd overall, by the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

in the 1986 NFL Draft. Shortly after being drafted, he and two other Virginia athletes were indicted on cocaine distribution charges. The Saints did not offer a contact to Word after his indictment but retained his football rights. Word pleaded guilty, but his willingness to cooperate and his limited involvement in the case meant he only received 5 months in prison. After Word’s release from prison in March 1987, he signed a three-year contract with the Saints and ran for 133 yards as a halfback in his rookie year. In 1988, however, he fell to third-string running back for the Saints behind

Rueben Mayes Rueben A. Mayes (born June 6, 1963) is a Canadian former American football running back who played professionally in the National Football League (NFL) from 1986 to 1993. He is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame for his contributions w ...

and

Dalton Hilliard Dalton Andrea Hilliard (born January 21, 1964) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for the New Orleans Saints from 1986-1993. He played his entire NFL ...

, two running backs drafted by the Saints the prior year. Unhappy with being shifted from running back to halfback, Word walked away from the Saints after two games in 1988. He then had unsuccessful attempts to join the Dallas Cowboys later in 1988 and with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1989. He was finally signed 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 The National Football League Comeback Player of the Year Award refers to a number of awards that are given to a National Football League (NFL) player who has shown perseverance in overcoming adversity, in the form of not being in the NFL the previo ...

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 and he ran for 847 yards on 142 carries. He was signed by the Cardinals at the start of the 1994 season, but only played one game for them and did not have a rushing attempt. This was to be the last time he took the field in the NFL as he retired after the game. He has said that being able to retire early is not a bad thing, and said as much to

Tiki Barber Atiim Kiambu "Tiki" Barber (; born April 7, 1975) is an American former football running back who played for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL) for ten seasons. He played college football for the University of Virginia. B ...

when Barber was set to retire concluding the 2006 season.

Personal life

He now lives in

Haymarket, Virginia Haymarket is a town in Prince William County, Virginia, United States. The population was 1,552 as of the 2020 census. History Haymarket is on land that was a hunting ground of the western Iroquois nations, who came from the New York and Penns ...

and own
SpeedPro Imaging of Centreville
a wide-formating printing company.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Word, Barry 1964 births Living people American football running backs Arizona Cardinals players Kansas City Chiefs players Minnesota Vikings players New Orleans Saints players Virginia Cavaliers football players People from Pittsylvania County, Virginia People from South Boston, Virginia Players of American football from Virginia People from Haymarket, Virginia