NFL team season
The 1985 season was the Minnesota Vikings' 25th in the National Football League. Under returning head coach Bud Grant, they finished with a 7–9 record and missed the playoffs for a third season in a row. At the end of the season, Grant retired for good after 18 years with the franchise.
Offseason
1985 Draft
- ^[a] In an attempt to draft QB Bernie Kosar, the Vikings traded their first-round selection (3rd overall) and a provisional second-round selection (30th overall)[c] to the Houston Oilers in exchange for Houston's first-round selection (2nd overall).
- ^[b] When Kosar did not declare for the draft and instead controversially waited for the supplemental draft, the traded the first-round selection they received from the Oilers to the Atlanta Falcons in exchange for Atlanta's first- and third-round selections (4th and 60th overall).
- ^[c] As part of the trade between the Vikings and Oilers[a], the Vikings agreed not to draft DE Ray Childress or trade the pick to a team that would draft Childress. Houston drafted Childress with the 3rd overall pick and this provisional selection was returned to Minnesota.
- ^[d] The Vikings traded CB John Turner to the San Diego Chargers in exchange for San Diego's third-round selection (66th overall).
- ^[e] The Vikings traded QB Steve Dils to the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for the Rams' fourth-round selection (106th overall).
- ^[f] The Vikings traded LB Brad Van Pelt to the Los Angeles Raiders in exchange for the Raiders' sixth-round selection (164th overall) and 1986 second-round selection.
- ^[g] The Vikings traded their seventh-round selection (171st overall) to the Green Bay Packers in exchange for K Jan Stenerud.
Preseason
Regular season
Schedule
Standings
Personnel
Staff
[2]
Roster
Statistics
Team leaders
League rankings
25-year team
The team recognized an all-time team in 1985 as part of the celebration of the 25th season.[4]
- Offense
- WRs: Ahmad Rashad, Sammy White
- T: Ron Yary, Grady Alderman
- G: Ed White, Milt Sunde
- C: Mick Tingelhoff
- TE: Stu Voigt
- QB: Fran Tarkenton
- RB: Bill Brown, Chuck Foreman
- K: Fred Cox
- Defense
- DE: Jim Marshall, Carl Eller
- DT: Alan Page, Gary Larsen
- OLB: Matt Blair, Roy Winston
- ILB: Jeff Siemon, Scott Studwell
- S: Paul Krause, Karl Kassulke
- CB: Bobby Bryant, Ed Sharockman
- P: Greg Coleman
- Head coach: Bud Grant
References
- ^ "1985 Minnesota Vikings (NFL) - Pro Football Archives".
- ^ 2010 Minnesota Vikings Media Guide. p. 265. Archived from the original on December 24, 2010. Retrieved February 18, 2011.
- ^ "Frustration for Morrell". Provo (UT) Daily Herald. December 8, 1985. p. 9. Retrieved May 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "VIKINGS 25TH SEASON ALL-TIME TEAM 1961–85" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 14, 2011.
