University of Virginia running back Barry Word,...

University of Virginia running back Barry Word, third-round draft choice by the New Orleans Saints, is among 26 players in last week’s National Football League draft who have tested positively for drugs in the past, according to a story in the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

Word showed only a mild trace of marijuana in his system in a test administered last January, the paper said.

“I don’t know how it happened,” Word said. “It would have to go back a long way.

“I don’t even remember exactly when I last smoked it . . . probably during Thanksgiving vacation. It was once in a while, recreational use. I wasn’t dependent on it.”