After attending Training Camp for five and a half days, and taking a couple of vacation days off from the Blog, Packerville is back today to resume our series on the Green Bay Packers Yearbooks. We get back on schedule with the 1985 Yearbook, which features an illustration of tight end Paul Coffman on the cover. Coffman played for the Packers from 1978-1985, and appeared in three straight Pro Bowls (1982-1984). He was inducted to the Packer hall of Fame in 1994. He also played for the Kansas City Chiefs in 1986 and 1987, ending his career in his home state — he was born in St. Louis and graduated from the University of Missouri.
In 1985, the Packers achieved their third 8-8-0 season in a row, the second in a row for coach Forrest Gregg. He was hardly turning the team around from where it was when he inherited it (Bart Starr’s last year was an 8-8-0 record). The record placed them second in the NFC Central Division — behind their hated rivals, the Chicago Bears — who would go on to win the Super Bowl after that season. In their two head-to-head meetings with the Bears in 1985, they lost at home 23-7 on October 21st, and lost again in Chicago 16-10 on Monday night, November 3rd.
Quarterback Lynn Dickey started 10 games, Jim Zorn started five games, and Randy Wright started one. Dickey was statistically the leader with 2,206 yards, 15 TD’s, and 17 INT’s. The leading rusher was Eddie Lee Ivery with 636 yards on 132 carries and 2 TD’s. James Lofton led the receivers with 69 catches for 1,153 yards and 4 TD’s.
Some of the stories featured in the 1985 Yearbook were: “1985 — An Anniversary Year” (the Packers’ 65th)... “Forrest Gregg — ‘A Fair Person’ ”... “(Mark) Murphy and (Tom) Flynn — Safeties First”... “Now Married, Paul Coffman is Still Mean and Lean and Hungry”... “Your 1985 Packers”... “Love Helped Packers of the 1960s Win”... “Karl Swanke — Alone on ‘The Island’ ”... “Phillip Epps — Just a Blur”... “99 Yards — Tim Lewis’ Run Breaks 1950 Record”... “(QB) Scott Brunner — The Right Place at the Right Time” (Note: He never played in a regular season game with Green Bay)... “Lambeau Field Has a New Look”... “The Draft — Offensive Line Bolstered with First Two Picks” (Tackle Ken Ruettgers and Center/Guard Rich Moran)... “Ron Hallstrom — I Want to Be the Best”... “The 1984 Season in Statistics”... “Eddie Lee Ivery — A Different Type of Runner”... “Al (Del Greco) and Bucky (Scribner)”...
