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Word Named ACC Football Championship Game Legend
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Running back and former UVa standout Barry Word was announced by the Atlantic Coast Conference on Tuesday as one of its Class of 2010 Dr Pepper ACC Football Championship Game Legends.
Word (1982-85) was named the ACC’s Player of the Year in 1985 after leading the Conference in rushing with 1,224 yards, averaging 5.9 yard per carry for George Welsh’s Virginia squad. He finished his career with 2,257 yards rushing, good enough for 10th place on the Virginia career rushing list. He topped the 100-yard mark in 10 games in his career, including eight times during the 1985 campaign.
A versatile performer, he led Virginia in all-purpose yardage in both 1984 and 1985. A third-round pick and overall the 62nd player taken in the 1986 NFL Draft, he played seven seasons in the National Football League with New Orleans (1987-88), Kansas City (1990-92), Minnesota (1993) and Arizona (1994). While with Kansas City in 1990, he rushed for a professional career-high 1,015 yards and was named the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year. Originally a native of Long Island, Va., he now resides in Haymarket, Va.
The Legends will be honored at this year’s Dr Pepper ACC Football Championship Game weekend. They will be honored at the ACC Night of Legends event on Friday, Dec. 3 and will also be recognized during ceremonies at Bank of America Stadium for the 6th Annual Dr Pepper ACC Football Championship. The championship game has a 7:45 p.m. kickoff on Dec. 4 and will be nationally televised by ESPN.
The group of 12 former gridiron standouts from current ACC schools includes five former players who earned some kind of ACC Player of the Year honors, three members of the ACC’s prestigious 50th Anniversary Football Team, a former NFL Defensive Player of the Year and NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year, eight former All-Americas including four consensus All-Americas, eight players who combined for 58 years of professional football experience and eight who were drafted into the National Football League, including five first-round picks.
Click here to view the rest of the 2010 Dr Pepper ACC Football Championship Game Legends.