The 1985 season was the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

' 25th in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

. Under returning head coach

Bud Grant Harry Peter "Bud" Grant Jr. (born May 20, 1927) is a former head coach and player of American football, Canadian football, and a former player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Grant served as the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings ...

, 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

: In an attempt to draft QB

Bernie Kosar Bernard Joseph Kosar Jr. (born November 25, 1963) is a former American football quarterback who played collegiately at the University of Miami where he led the team to a national championship in 1983. He subsequently played professionally in ...

, the Vikings traded their first-round selection (3rd overall) and a provisional second-round selection (30th overall) to the

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston from its founding in 1960 to 1996 before relocating to Memphis, and later Nashville, Tennessee becoming the Tennessee Titans. The Oilers began play in 1960 as ...

in exchange for Houston's first-round selection (2nd overall). : When Kosar did not declare for the draft and instead controversially waited for the

supplemental draft The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...

, the traded the first-round selection they received from the Oilers to the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

in exchange for Atlanta's first- and third-round selections (4th and 60th overall). : As part of the trade between the Vikings and Oilers, the Vikings agreed not to draft DE

Ray Childress Raymond Clay Childress, Jr. (born October 20, 1962) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) for the Houston Oilers and Dallas Cowboys. He played colleg ...

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. : The Vikings traded CB

John Turner John Napier Wyndham Turner (June 7, 1929September 19, 2020) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 17th prime minister of Canada from June to September 1984. He served as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and leader of t ...

to the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

in exchange for San Diego's third-round selection (66th overall). : The Vikings traded QB

Steve Dils Stephen Whitfield "Steve" Dils (born December 8, 1955) is an American retired football quarterback who played 10 seasons in the National Football League. College career Dils played high school football at Fort Vancouver High School in Vancouver, ...

to the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...

in exchange for the Rams' fourth-round selection (106th overall). : The Vikings traded LB

Brad Van Pelt Brad Alan Van Pelt (April 5, 1951 – February 17, 2009) was an American football linebacker who played 14 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). A two-time All-American ( 1971, 1972) and the 1972 Maxwell Award winner as college football ...

to the

Los Angeles Raiders The Los Angeles Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Los Angeles from 1982 to 1994 before relocating back to Oakland, California, where the team played from its inaugural 1960 season to the 1981 season and then agai ...

in exchange for the Raiders' sixth-round selection (164th overall) and

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

second-round selection. : The Vikings traded their seventh-round selection (171st overall) to the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

in exchange for K

Jan Stenerud Jan Stenerud (, ; born November 26, 1942) is a Norwegian- American former football placekicker who played in the National Football League (NFL) and American Football League (AFL) for 19 seasons, primarily with Kansas City Chiefs. The first Norwe ...

Preseason

Regular season

Schedule

Standings

Personnel

Staff

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. *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 NFL season by team

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...