Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, September 16, 1993 TAG: 9309160144
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: From Associated Press reports
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"It would be very difficult for us to find one other back who could come in here and start, and who was tradeable," coach Dennis Green said after the Vikings evened their record at 1-1 with a 10-7 victory over the Chicago Bears on Sunday. Word is a former Virginia running back.
"What are the odds of us going and getting a back who would come in and start?" Green said. "Not very good. So there was really only one choice for us: Play with what we had or get Barry Word."
Because of a preseason injury to 1,200-yard rusher Terry Allen, the Vikings had only 33-year-old Roger Craig and first-year players Charles Evans and Robert Smith. That wasn't enough for Green, who urged team president Roger Headrick to send a fifth-round draft pick to Kansas City for Word, a former 1,000-yard back who was being phased out by the Chiefs.
Word, who didn't play in the preseason and was ineligible for the opener because he hadn't signed a contract in time, rushed 24 times for 94 yards and caught five passes for 58 yards to fuel Sunday's victory over the Bears.
"Barry surprised me in that he was able to learn the whole system in a week-and-a-half," Green said. "We didn't have to go in and say, `We can only run this play and this play and this play because he doesn't understand any other plays.' "
Although Word admitted to being rusty and "a little out of shape," he needed few rests against the Bears.
He entered the game midway through the first quarter - for Minnesota's first offensive play after Craig's fumble set up Chicago's only score - and rarely came out.
"I thought they'd work me in more gradually, but I'm not complaining," Word said. "Any back wants to carry the load. It was real important for me to prove to the guys that I'm willing to go all out."
In other NFL news:
\ DEAF MAN FILES SUIT: A deaf man who says blackouts of home football games discriminate against deaf people filed a $1.4 billion federal lawsuit against the NFL and the three major television networks.
Television broadcasts of home football games are blacked out in the local viewing area if the contest doesn't sell out 72 hours before game time.
The suit, which also names the Cleveland Browns and the local affiliates of CBS, NBC and ABC as defendants, says deaf football fans have suffered humiliation because of the blackouts. Deaf fans don't have the alternative of listening to the games on the radio, the suit states.
by CNB