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1983 Minnesota Vikings
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Record: 8-8-0, Finished 2nd in NFC Central Division
NFL Season Summary
Scored 316 points (19.8/g), 18th of 28 in the NFL.
Allowed 348 points (21.8/g), 17th.
Differential of -32 points (-2.0/g), 20th.
Expected W-L: 7.1-8.9.
Takeaway/Giveaway Differential +16 (1.0/g), 2nd.
Simple Rating System: Total -3.1, Offense: -2.9, Defense: -0.1, SoS: -1.1, versus averages of 0.0.
Coached by
Bud Grant
Offensive Coordinator: Jerry Burns
Defensive Coordinator: Bob Hollway
Training Camp: Minnesota State University, Mankato (Mankato, Minnesota)
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Starters
ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+),Hide Non-primary Starters
| Pos | Age | Yrs | GS | Summary of Player Stats | Drafted (tm/rnd/yr) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Offensive Starters | ||||||
| QB | Steve Dils | 28 | 4 | 12 | 239 for 444, 2,840 yards, 11 td, 16 int, & 16 rushes for 28 yards and 0 td | Minnesota Vikings / 4th / 97th pick / 1979 |
| RB | Darrin Nelson | 24 | 1 | 9 | 154 rushes for 642 yards, 1 td, & 51 catches for 618 yards and 0 td | Minnesota Vikings / 1st / 7th pick / 1982 |
| FB | Ted Brown | 26 | 4 | 8 | 120 rushes for 476 yards, 10 td, & 41 catches for 357 yards and 1 td | Minnesota Vikings / 1st / 16th pick / 1979 |
| WR | Terry LeCount | 27 | 5 | 10 | 21 catches for 318 yards, 2 td, & 2 rushes for 42 yards and 0 td | San Francisco 49ers / 4th / 91st pick / 1978 |
| WR | Sammy White | 29 | 7 | 10 | 29 catches for 412 yards, 4 td, & 1 rush for 7 yards and 0 td | Minnesota Vikings / 2nd / 54th pick / 1976 |
| TE | Bob Bruer | 30 | 4 | 10 | 31 catches for 315 yards, 2 td | Houston Oilers / 9th / 221st pick / 1975 |
| LT | Steve Riley | 31 | 9 | 15 | 1 fumble recovered | Minnesota Vikings / 1st / 25th pick / 1974 |
| LG | Jim Hough | 27 | 5 | 16 | Minnesota Vikings / 4th / 100th pick / 1978 | |
| C | Dennis Swilley | 28 | 6 | 16 | Minnesota Vikings / 2nd / 55th pick / 1977 | |
| RG | Wes Hamilton | 30 | 7 | 15 | Minnesota Vikings / 3rd / 85th pick / 1976 | |
| RT | Tim Irwin | 25 | 2 | 16 | 1 fumble recovered | Minnesota Vikings / 3rd / 74th pick / 1981 |
| Defensive Starters | ||||||
| LDE | Doug Martin | 26 | 3 | 16 | 13.0 sacks, 0 interceptions, 2 fumbles recovered | Minnesota Vikings / 1st / 9th pick / 1980 |
| NT | Charlie Johnson | 31 | 6 | 16 | 1.0 sacks, 1 interception, 1 fumble recovered | Philadelphia Eagles / 7th / 175th pick / 1977 |
| RDE | Neil Elshire | 25 | 2 | 10 | 9.5 sacks, 0 interceptions, 3 fumbles recovered | |
| LOLB | Matt Blair | 33 | 9 | 16 | 4.5 sacks, 1 interception, 2 fumbles recovered | Minnesota Vikings / 2nd / 51st pick / 1974 |
| LILB | Scott Studwell | 29 | 6 | 16 | 2.0 sacks, 0 interceptions, 1 fumble recovered | Minnesota Vikings / 9th / 250th pick / 1977 |
| RILB | Dennis Johnson | 25 | 3 | 16 | 1.0 sacks, 0 interceptions, 0 fumbles recovered | Minnesota Vikings / 4th / 92nd pick / 1980 |
| ROLB | Fred McNeill | 31 | 9 | 15 | 0.5 sacks, 0 interceptions, 0 fumbles recovered | Minnesota Vikings / 1st / 17th pick / 1974 |
| LCB | John Swain | 24 | 2 | 7 | 0.0 sacks, 6 interceptions, 0 fumbles recovered | Minnesota Vikings / 4th / 101st pick / 1981 |
| RCB | Willie Teal | 26 | 3 | 16 | 0.0 sacks, 3 interceptions, 3 fumbles recovered | Minnesota Vikings / 2nd / 30th pick / 1980 |
| SS | Tom Hannon | 28 | 6 | 16 | 0.5 sacks, 0 interceptions, 2 fumbles recovered | Minnesota Vikings / 3rd / 83rd pick / 1977 |
| FS | John Turner | 27 | 5 | 15 | 1.0 sacks, 6 interceptions, 2 fumbles recovered | Minnesota Vikings / 2nd / 48th pick / 1978 |
| Special Teams Starters | ||||||
| K | Benny Ricardo | 29 | 7 | 0 | 25 of 33 field goals & 33 of 34 extra points | |
| P | Greg Coleman | 29 | 6 | 0 | 91 punts for a 41.5 average, 0 blocked | Cincinnati Bengals / 14th / 398th pick / 1976 |
| lcb | Rufus Bess | 27 | 4 | 6 | ||
| KR | Jarvis Redwine | 26 | 2 | 1 | 38 kick returns for a 22.1 average and 0 td | Minnesota Vikings / 2nd / 52nd pick / 1981 |
| No. | Age | Pos | G | GS | Wt | Ht | College/Univ | BirthDate | Yrs | AV | Drafted (tm/rnd/yr) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 58 | Walker Lee Ashley | 23 | 15 | 0 | 234 | 6-0 | Penn St. | 7/28/1960 | Rook | 1 | Minnesota Vikings / 3rd / 73rd pick / 1983 | |
| 33 | Rick Bell | 23 | 14 | 0 | 205 | 6-0 | St. John's (MN) | 10/18/1960 | Rook | 0 | ||
| 21 | Rufus Bess | 27 | lcb | 14 | 6 | 184 | 5-9 | South Carolina St. | 9/13/1956 | 4 | 4 | |
| 59 | Matt Blair | 33 | LOLB | 16 | 16 | 232 | 6-5 | Iowa St. | 9/20/1950 | 9 | 9 | Minnesota Vikings / 2nd / 51st pick / 1974 |
| 62 | Brent Boyd | 26 | g | 16 | 1 | 268 | 6-3 | UCLA | 3/23/1957 | 3 | 1 | Minnesota Vikings / 3rd / 68th pick / 1980 |
| 86 | Norris Brown | 22 | 2 | 0 | 220 | 6-3 | Georgia | 7/10/1961 | Rook | 0 | Minnesota Vikings / 8th / 213th pick / 1983 | |
| 23 | Ted Brown | 26 | FB | 10 | 8 | 206 | 5-10 | North Carolina St. | 2/15/1957 | 4 | 6 | Minnesota Vikings / 1st / 16th pick / 1979 |
| 47 | Joey Browner | 23 | db | 16 | 1 | 221 | 6-2 | USC | 5/15/1960 | Rook | 3 | Minnesota Vikings / 1st / 19th pick / 1983 |
| 82 | Bob Bruer | 30 | TE | 16 | 10 | 235 | 6-5 | Mankato St. | 5/22/1953 | 4 | 4 | Houston Oilers / 9th / 221st pick / 1975 |
| 44 | Dave Casper | 32 | TE | 10 | 9 | 240 | 6-4 | Notre Dame | 9/26/1951 | 9 | 3 | Oakland Raiders / 2nd / 45th pick / 1974 |
| 8 | Greg Coleman | 29 | P | 16 | 0 | 185 | 6-0 | Florida A&M | 9/9/1954 | 6 | 0 | Cincinnati Bengals / 14th / 398th pick / 1976 |
| 12 | Steve Dils | 28 | QB | 16 | 12 | 190 | 6-1 | Stanford | 12/8/1955 | 4 | 8 | Minnesota Vikings / 4th / 97th pick / 1979 |
| 73 | Neil Elshire | 25 | RDE | 16 | 10 | 260 | 6-6 | Oregon | 3/8/1958 | 2 | 7 | |
| 50 | Dennis Fowlkes | 22 | 11 | 0 | 238 | 6-2 | West Virginia | 3/11/1961 | Rook | 1 | ||
| 32 | Tony Galbreath | 29 | fb | 13 | 7 | 228 | 6-0 | Missouri | 1/29/1954 | 7 | 6 | New Orleans Saints / 2nd / 32nd pick / 1976 |
| 61 | Wes Hamilton | 30 | RG | 15 | 15 | 261 | 6-3 | Tulsa | 4/24/1953 | 7 | 6 | Minnesota Vikings / 3rd / 85th pick / 1976 |
| 45 | Tom Hannon | 28 | SS | 16 | 16 | 193 | 5-11 | Michigan St. | 3/5/1955 | 6 | 7 | Minnesota Vikings / 3rd / 83rd pick / 1977 |
| 75 | Randy Holloway | 28 | de | 16 | 2 | 250 | 6-5 | Pittsburgh | 8/26/1955 | 5 | 3 | Minnesota Vikings / 1st / 21st pick / 1978 |
| 51 | Jim Hough | 27 | LG | 16 | 16 | 267 | 6-2 | Utah St. | 8/4/1956 | 5 | 6 | Minnesota Vikings / 4th / 100th pick / 1978 |
| 56 | Dave Huffman | 26 | 15 | 0 | 280 | 6-6 | Notre Dame | 4/4/1957 | 4 | 1 | Minnesota Vikings / 2nd / 43rd pick / 1979 | |
| 76 | Tim Irwin | 25 | RT | 16 | 16 | 300 | 6-7 | Tennessee | 12/13/1958 | 2 | 7 | Minnesota Vikings / 3rd / 74th pick / 1981 |
| 65 | Charlie Johnson | 31 | NT | 16 | 16 | 266 | 6-3 | Colorado | 2/17/1952 | 6 | 8 | Philadelphia Eagles / 7th / 175th pick / 1977 |
| 52 | Dennis Johnson | 25 | RILB | 16 | 16 | 234 | 6-3 | USC | 6/19/1958 | 3 | 7 | Minnesota Vikings / 4th / 92nd pick / 1980 |
| 53 | Henry Johnson | 25 | 5 | 0 | 235 | 6-1 | Georgia Tech | 3/20/1958 | 3 | 0 | Minnesota Vikings / 7th / 174th pick / 1980 | |
| 89 | Mike A. Jones | 23 | 16 | 0 | 181 | 5-11 | Tennessee St. | 4/14/1960 | Rook | 1 | Minnesota Vikings / 6th / 159th pick / 1983 | |
| 83 | Steve Jordan | 22 | te | 13 | 2 | 236 | 6-3 | Brown | 1/10/1961 | 1 | 3 | Minnesota Vikings / 7th / 179th pick / 1982 |
| 9 | Tommy Kramer | 28 | qb | 3 | 3 | 200 | 6-2 | Rice | 3/7/1955 | 6 | 2 | Minnesota Vikings / 1st / 27th pick / 1977 |
| 80 | Terry LeCount | 27 | WR | 11 | 10 | 178 | 5-10 | Florida | 7/9/1956 | 5 | 3 | San Francisco 49ers / 4th / 91st pick / 1978 |
| 39 | Carl Lee | 22 | db | 16 | 3 | 185 | 5-11 | Marshall | 2/6/1961 | Rook | 2 | Minnesota Vikings / 7th / 186th pick / 1983 |
| 87 | Leo Lewis | 27 | wr | 14 | 4 | 170 | 5-8 | Missouri | 9/17/1956 | 2 | 1 | |
| 4 | Archie Manning | 34 | 2 | 0 | 212 | 6-3 | Mississippi | 5/19/1949 | 12 | 0 | New Orleans Saints / 1st / 2nd pick / 1971 | |
| 79 | Doug Martin | 26 | LDE | 16 | 16 | 260 | 6-3 | Washington | 5/22/1957 | 3 | 9 | Minnesota Vikings / 1st / 9th pick / 1980 |
| 84 | Sam McCullum | 31 | wr | 11 | 5 | 203 | 6-2 | Montana St. | 11/30/1952 | 9 | 3 | Minnesota Vikings / 9th / 232nd pick / 1974 |
| 88 | Mardye McDole | 24 | wr | 15 | 1 | 198 | 5-11 | Mississippi St. | 5/1/1959 | 2 | 0 | Minnesota Vikings / 2nd / 39th pick / 1981 |
| 54 | Fred McNeill | 31 | ROLB | 16 | 15 | 229 | 6-2 | UCLA | 5/6/1952 | 9 | 7 | Minnesota Vikings / 1st / 17th pick / 1974 |
| 86 | Mike Mularkey | 22 | te | 3 | 3 | 245 | 6-4 | Florida | 11/19/1961 | Rook | 0 | San Francisco 49ers / 9th / 229th pick / 1983 |
| 77 | Mark Mullaney | 30 | de | 7 | 4 | 242 | 6-6 | Colorado St. | 4/30/1953 | 8 | 3 | Minnesota Vikings / 1st / 25th pick / 1975 |
| 20 | Darrin Nelson | 24 | RB | 15 | 9 | 184 | 5-9 | Stanford | 1/2/1959 | 1 | 9 | Minnesota Vikings / 1st / 7th pick / 1982 |
| 49 | Keith Nord | 26 | 3 | 0 | 197 | 6-0 | St. Cloud St. | 3/3/1957 | 4 | 1 | ||
| 22 | Jarvis Redwine | 26 | KR | 16 | 1 | 203 | 5-10 | Oregon St.,Nebraska | 5/16/1957 | 2 | 0 | Minnesota Vikings / 2nd / 52nd pick / 1981 |
| 1 | Benny Ricardo | 29 | K | 16 | 0 | 175 | 5-10 | San Diego St. | 1/4/1954 | 7 | 0 | |
| 78 | Steve Riley | 31 | LT | 16 | 15 | 258 | 6-5 | USC | 11/23/1952 | 9 | 7 | Minnesota Vikings / 1st / 25th pick / 1974 |
| 68 | Curtis Rouse | 23 | g | 16 | 1 | 316 | 6-3 | Tenn-Chattanooga | 7/13/1960 | 1 | 1 | Minnesota Vikings / 11th / 286th pick / 1982 |
| 57 | Robin Sendlein | 25 | lb | 16 | 1 | 225 | 6-3 | Texas | 12/1/1958 | 2 | 2 | Minnesota Vikings / 2nd / 45th pick / 1981 |
| 55 | Scott Studwell | 29 | LILB | 16 | 16 | 228 | 6-2 | Illinois | 8/27/1954 | 6 | 8 | Minnesota Vikings / 9th / 250th pick / 1977 |
| 29 | John Swain | 24 | LCB | 14 | 7 | 195 | 6-1 | Miami (FL) | 9/4/1959 | 2 | 5 | Minnesota Vikings / 4th / 101st pick / 1981 |
| 67 | Dennis Swilley | 28 | C | 16 | 16 | 253 | 6-3 | Texas A&M,North Texas | 6/28/1955 | 6 | 6 | Minnesota Vikings / 2nd / 55th pick / 1977 |
| 66 | Terry Tausch | 24 | 10 | 0 | 275 | 6-5 | Texas | 2/5/1959 | 1 | 1 | Minnesota Vikings / 2nd / 39th pick / 1982 | |
| 37 | Willie Teal | 26 | RCB | 16 | 16 | 195 | 5-10 | LSU | 12/20/1957 | 3 | 8 | Minnesota Vikings / 2nd / 30th pick / 1980 |
| 27 | John Turner | 27 | FS | 16 | 15 | 197 | 6-0 | Miami (FL) | 2/22/1956 | 5 | 8 | Minnesota Vikings / 2nd / 48th pick / 1978 |
| 72 | James White | 30 | 16 | 0 | 265 | 6-3 | Oklahoma St. | 10/26/1953 | 7 | 2 | Minnesota Vikings / 1st / 25th pick / 1976 | |
| 85 | Sammy White | 29 | WR | 11 | 10 | 190 | 5-11 | Grambling St. | 3/16/1954 | 7 | 4 | Minnesota Vikings / 2nd / 54th pick / 1976 |
| 11 | Wade Wilson | 24 | qb | 1 | 1 | 210 | 6-3 | Texas A&M-Commerce | 2/1/1959 | 2 | 0 | Minnesota Vikings / 8th / 210th pick / 1981 |
| 91 | Ray Yakavonis | 26 | 2 | 0 | 250 | 6-4 | East Stroudsburg | 1/20/1957 | 2 | 0 | Minnesota Vikings / 6th / 148th pick / 1980 | |
| 34 | Rickey Young | 30 | rb | 16 | 4 | 196 | 6-2 | Jackson St. | 12/7/1953 | 8 | 2 | San Diego Chargers / 7th / 164th pick / 1975 |
| Team Total | 26.7 | 16 | 225.1 | 6-1.7 | 4.1 |
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