1985 Minnesota Vikings season

NFL team season August 2023 March 2026 Minnesota Vikings 1985 7–9 3rd NFC Central Bud Grant Mike Lynn Max Winter Metrodome Did not qualify S Joey Browner Vikings seasons 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 1985 NFL draft Pro Bowler + 1985 Minnesota Vikings draft selections Round Selection Player Position College Notes 1 2 Traded to the Atlanta FalconsFalcons The Vikings traded a first-round selection (2nd overall) to the Falcons in exchange for first- and third-round selections (4th and 60th overall). from OilersOilers The Vikings traded a first-round selection (3rd overall) and a provisional second-round selection (30th overall) to the Oilers in exchange for a first-round selection (2nd overall). As part of the trade, the Vikings agreed not to select DE Ray Childress or trade the pick to a team that would draft him. Houston selected Childress with the 3rd overall pick and this provisional selection was returned to Minnesota. 3Traded to the Houston OilersOilers 4 Chris Doleman Defensive end Pittsburgh from FalconsFalcons 2 30 Issiac Holt Cornerback Alcorn State Provisional trade not exercisedOilers 3 59 Kirk Lowdermilk Center Ohio State 60 Tim Meamber Linebacker Washington from FalconsFalcons 66 Tim Long Offensive tackle Memphis State from ChargersThe Vikings traded CB John Turner to the Chargers in exchange for a third-round selection (66th overall). 4 85 Buster Rhymes Wide receiver Oklahoma 106 Kyle Morrell Defensive back BYU from RamsThe Vikings traded QB Steve Dils to the Rams in exchange for a fourth-round selection (106th overall). 5 115 Mark MacDonald Guard Boston College 6 142 Steve Bono Quarterback UCLA 164 Tim Newton Defensive tackle Florida from RaidersThe Vikings traded LB Brad Van Pelt to the Raiders in exchange for a sixth-round selection (164th overall) and a 1986 second-round selection (53rd overall). 7 171Traded to the Green Bay PackersThe Vikings traded a seventh-round selection (171st overall) to the Packers in exchange for K Jan Stenerud. 8 198 Nikita Blair Linebacker UTEP 9 227 Jamie Covington Running back Syracuse 10 254 Juan Johnson Wide receiver Langston 11 283 Tim Williams Defensive back North Carolina A&T 12 310 Byron Jones Defensive tackle Tulsa Notes Undrafted free agents + 1985 undrafted free agents of notePlayerPositionCollegeRick HechingerTackleMemphis StateDave LewisRunning backNorthern IowaAl TachovskyLinebackerMinnesota State Personnel Staff 1985 Minnesota Vikings #3B0160 white #F0BF00 Chairman of the Board – John Skoglund President – Max Winter Executive vice president/general manager – Mike Lynn Senior vice president – Jack Steele Secretary/treasurer – Sheldon Kaplan Director of football operations – Jerry Reichow Director of player personnel – Frank Gilliam Head scout – Ralph Kohl Assistant head scout – Don Deisch Regional scout – John Carson Equipment manager – Dennis Ryan Film director – Larry Kohout Head coach – Bud Grant Assistant head coach/offensive coordinator – Jerry Burns Running backs – Marc Trestman Receivers – Dick Rehbein Offensive line – John Michels Defensive coordinator – Bob Hollway Defensive line – Paul Wiggin Linebackers – Floyd Reese Defensive backs – Pete Carroll Defensive assistant/kicking teams – Tom Batta Trainer – Fred Zamberletti Assistant trainer – Larry Neumann Team physician – David Fischer Minnesota Vikings 1985 Fact Book 2 Minnesota Vikings Roster 1985 Minnesota Vikings 13 Steve Bono y  9 Tommy Kramer 11 Wade Wilson American football 46 Alfred Anderson American football 23 Ted Brown American football 20 Darrin Nelson 36 Allen Rice 81 Anthony Carter American football 89 Mike Jones wide receiver, born 1960 87 Leo Lewis wide receiver 88 Buster Rhymes y 85 Sammy White American football 84 Jay Carroll 83 Steve Jordan tight end 86 Mike Mularkey 62 Brent Boyd G 51 Jim Hough C 72 Dave Huffman T 76 Tim Irwin T 63 Kirk Lowdermilk y C 71 Mark MacDonald American football y G 68 Curtis Rouse T 67 Dennis Swilley C 66 Terry Tausch G 73 Neil Elshire DE 79 Doug Martin defensive end DE 75 Keith Millard DE 77 Mark Mullaney DE 96 Tim Newton y NT 74 Robert Smith defensive end y DE 59 Matt Blair OLB 56 Chris Doleman y OLB 50 Dennis Fowlkes ILB 99 David Howard linebacker ILB 57 Chris Martin linebacker OLB 55 Scott Studwell ILB 47 Joey Browner SS 30 Issiac Holt y CB 39 Carl Lee American football CB 49 Keith Nord FS 28 Ted Rosnagle y SS 37 Willie Teal CB 27 John Turner American football FS  8 Greg Coleman American football P  3 Jan Stenerud K 58 Walker Lee Ashley LB IR 21 Rufus Bess CB IR 64 Grant Feasel C IR 80 Jim Gustafson WR IR 61 Wes Hamilton G IR 44 Keith Kidd WR IR 54 Fred McNeill LB IR 53 Tim Meamber y LB IR 35 Kyle Morrell y S IRFrustration for Morrell Provo (UT) Daily Herald December 8, 1985 9 https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-herald-kyle-morrell-1985-injur/148251608/ May 28, 2024 Newspapers.com -- Toussaint Tyler RB IR Preseason Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendancehttps://www.profootballarchives.com/1985nflmin.html 1985 Minnesota Vikings (NFL) - Pro Football Archives 1 August 10 at Miami Dolphins W 16–13 (OT) 1–0 Miami Orange Bowl 41,129 2 August 17 Pittsburgh Steelers W 41–34 2–0 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 56,887 3 August 24 Seattle Seahawks L 10–27 2–1 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 56,562 4 August 30 at Denver Broncos W 13–9 3–1 Mile High Stadium 69,373 Regular season Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 September 8 San Francisco 49ers W 28–21 1–0 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 57,375 2 September 15 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 31–16 2–0 Tampa Stadium 46,188 3 September 19 Chicago Bears L 24–33 2–1 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 61,242 4 September 29 at Buffalo Bills W 27–20 3–1 Rich Stadium 45,667 5 October 6 at Los Angeles Rams L 10–13 3–2 Anaheim Stadium 61,139 6 October 13 at Green Bay Packers L 17–20 3–3 Milwaukee County Stadium 54,674 7 October 20 San Diego Chargers W 21–17 4–3 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 61,670 8 October 27 at Chicago Bears L 9–27 4–4Soldier Field 63,815 9 November 3 Detroit Lions W 16–13 5–4 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 58,012 10 November 10 Green Bay Packers L 17–27 5–5 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 59,970 11 November 17 at Detroit Lions L 21–41 5–6 Silverdome 54,647 12 November 24 New Orleans Saints L 23–30 5–7 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 54,117 13 December 1 at Philadelphia Eagles W 28–23 6–7 Veterans Stadium 54,688 14 December 8 Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 26–7 7–7 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 51,593 15 December 15 at Atlanta Falcons L 13–14 7–8 Atlanta Fulton County Stadium 14,167 16 December 22 Philadelphia Eagles L 35–37 7–9 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 49,722 Standings Statistics Team leaders Category Player(s) Value Passing yards Tommy Kramer 3,522 Passing touchdowns Tommy Kramer 19 Rushing yards Darrin Nelson 893 Rushing touchdowns Ted Brown 7 Receiving yards Anthony Carter 821 Receiving touchdowns Anthony Carter 8 Points Jan Stenerud 86 Kickoff return yards Buster Rhymes 1,345 Punt return yards Darrin Nelson 133 Tackles Chris Doleman 113 Sacks Keith Millard 11.0 Interceptions John Turner 5 League rankings Category Total yards Yards per game NFL rank(out of 28) Passing offense 3,635 227.2 7th Rushing offense 1,516 94.8 27th Total offense 5,151 321.9 16th Passing defense 3,241 202.6 15th Rushing defense 2,223 138.9 22nd Total defense 5,464 341.5 16th 25th anniversary team The team recognized an all-time team in 1985 as part of the celebration of the 25th season. Position Player Tenure Offense QB Fran Tarkenton 1961–1966, 1972–1978 RB Bill Brown 1962–1974 Chuck Foreman 1973–1979 WR Ahmad Rashad 1976–1982 Sammy White 1976–1985 TE Stu Voigt 1970–1980 OT Ron Yary 1968–1981 Grady Alderman 1961–1975 G Ed White 1969–1977 Milt Sunde 1964–1974 C Mick Tingelhoff 1962–1978 Defense DE Jim Marshall 1961–1979 Carl Eller 1964–1978 DT Alan Page 1967–1978 Gary Larsen 1965–1974 OLB Matt Blair 1974–1985 Roy Winston 1962–1976 MLB Jeff Siemon 1972–1982 Scott Studwell 1977–1990 CB Bobby Bryant 1968–1980 Ed Sharockman 1961–1972 S Paul Krause 1968–1979 Karl Kassulke 1963–1972 Special teams K Fred Cox 1963–1977 P Greg Coleman 1978–1987 Coach HC Bud Grant 1967–1983, 1985 Source:VIKINGS 25TH SEASON ALL-TIME TEAM 1961–85 http://prod.static.vikings.clubs.nfl.com/assets/docs/2010-media-guide.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20110714180251/http://prod.static.vikings.clubs.nfl.com/assets/docs/2010-media-guide.pdf July 14, 2011 References 1985 Minnesota Minnesota Vikings