The 1986 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 ...

' 26th season 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 ...

, and their first with former offensive coordinator

Jerry Burns Jerome Monahan Burns (January 24, 1927 – May 12, 2021) was an American college and professional football coach. He played in college for the Michigan Wolverines before becoming a coach. He was the head coach for the Iowa Hawkeyes from 1961 to ...

as head coach, following the departure of

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 ...

at the end of the previous season. The Vikings finished with a 9–7 record and missed the playoffs for the fourth season in a row.

Offseason

1986 Draft

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

traded a 1st round selection (14th overall) and 2nd round selection (44th overall) to the Vikings for their 1st round selection (8th overall) and 3rd round selection (66th overall). : Minnesota traded one of their 2nd round selections (40th overall) and LB

Robin Sendlein Robin Sendlein is a former American football linebacker in the National Football League. Sendlein was drafted in the second round by the Minnesota Vikings out of the University of Texas at Austin in the 1981 NFL Draft. His son, Lyle Sendlein, als ...

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

for WR Anthony Carter. : Minnesota traded two 2nd round selections (44th and 53rd overall) to the

Giants A giant is a being of human appearance, sometimes of prodigious size and strength, common in folklore. Giant(s) or The Giant(s) may also refer to: Mythology and religion *Giants (Greek mythology) *Jötunn, a Germanic term often translated as 'gi ...

for OT

Gary Zimmerman Gary Wayne Zimmerman (born December 13, 1961) is an American former professional football player who was an offensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL). Zimmerman played for the Minnesota Vikings from 1986 to 1992 and for the Denver ...

. : The Raiders traded their

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 ...

6th round selection (164th overall) and 1986 2nd round selection (53rd overall) to Minnesota for 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' ...

Staff

Roster

Preseason

Regular season

Schedule

Game summaries

Week 1: vs Detroit Lions

Week 8: vs Cleveland Browns

Standings

Statistics

Team leaders

League rankings

Awards and records

*On August 2,

Fran Tarkenton Francis Asbury Tarkenton (born February 3, 1940) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons, primarily with the Minnesota Vikings. He played college football at ...

was inducted into the

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coach ...

Canton, Ohio Canton () is a city in and the county seat of Stark County, Ohio. It is located approximately south of Cleveland and south of Akron in Northeast Ohio. The city lies on the edge of Ohio's extensive Amish country, particularly in Holmes and ...

. He was the first player inducted who was primarily a Minnesota Viking during his career. *

Tommy Kramer Thomas Francis Kramer (born March 7, 1955) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) from 1977 to 1990. He played college football at Rice University and was selected by the Mi ...

, the NFL passer rating leader, was named

NFL Comeback Player of the Year The National Football League Comeback Player of the Year Award refers to a number of awards that are given to a National Football League (NFL) player who has shown perseverance in overcoming adversity, in the form of not being in the NFL the previo ...

by ''Pro Football Weekly''.

References

External links

Vikings on Pro Football Reference

Vikings on jt-sw.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:1986 Minnesota Vikings Season Minnesota Vikings seasons

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 ...

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...