1980 Green Bay Packers season

The 1980 Green Bay Packers season was their 62nd season overall and their 60th in the National Football League. The team posted a 5–10–1 record under coach Bart Starr, earning them a fifth-place finish in the NFC Central division.

1980 Green Bay Packers season
Head coach	Bart Starr
Home field	Lambeau Field Milwaukee County Stadium
Results
Record	5–10–1
Division place	5th NFC Central
Playoff finish	Did not qualify

Before the 1980 season even began, first-round draft pick Bruce Clark bolted directly for the Canadian Football League, never playing a down for the Packers. He forced a trade to the New Orleans Saints upon returning to the United States. Green Bay regrouped and started strong by outlasting the Chicago Bears in an overtime thriller in the season opener. But with 27 players on injured reserved during the course of the year, the team was unable to replenish its roster and Green Bay suffered their 7th losing season in 8 years.

Exactly three months after the opener at Lambeau Field, The Packers would rematch with the Bears. However, Chicago exacted revenge by embarrassing the Packers 7–61 at Soldier Field, causing the Packers to be eliminated from the playoffs for the 8th straight season.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Main article: 1980 NFL Draft

1980 Packers Draft Selections

Round	Overall	Player	Position	College
1	4	Bruce Clark	DT	Penn State
1	26	George Cumby	LB	Oklahoma
2	34	Mark Lee	CB	Washington
3	61	Syd Kitson	G	Wake Forest
4	87	Fred Nixon	WR	Oklahoma
6	143	Karl Swanke	OT	Boston College
7	169	Buddy Aydelette	OT	Alabama
8	199	Tim Smith	DB	Oregon State
9	195	Kelly Saalfeld	C	Nebraska
10	253	Jafus White	DB	Texas A&I
12	310	James Stewart	DB	Memphis

Players highlighted in yellow indicate players selected to the Pro Bowl during their NFL career.

Undrafted free agents

1980 Undrafted Free Agents of note

Player	Position	College
Mark Murphy	Safety	West Liberty State

Personnel

Staff

1980 Green Bay Packers staff

	Front office President – Dominic Olejniczak Vice President – Robert J. Parins Corporate General Manager – Bob Harlan Director of Player Personnel – Dick Corrick Head coaches Head Coach – Bart Starr Offensive coaches Quarterbacks/Offensive Backs – Zeke Bratkowski Receivers – Lew Carpenter Offensive Line – Ernie McMillan Assistant Offensive Line – Tom Lovat Special Assistant – Dick Rehbein			Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator – John Meyer Defensive Line – Jim Champion Defensive Line – Fred von Appen Linebackers – John Marshall Defensive Backs – Ross Fichtner Special teams coaches Special Teams – John Marshall

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Roster

1980 Green Bay Packers roster

	Quarterbacks 12 Lynn Dickey 19 Steve Pisarkiewicz 17 David Whitehurst Running backs 44 Vickey Ray Anderson 32 Steve Atkins 31 Gerry Ellis 25 Harlan Huckleby 40 Eddie Lee Ivery 34 Terdell Middleton Wide receivers 88 Ron Cassidy 85 Bobby Kimball 80 James Lofton 84 Fred Nixon 89 Aundra Thompson Tight ends 82 Paul Coffman 87 Bill Larson 83 John Thompson		Offensive linemen 62 Buddy Aydelette T 74 Ken Brown C 57 Derrel Gofourth 69 Leotis Harris 71 Melvin Jackson 64 Syd Kitson G 68 Greg Koch T 54 Larry McCarren C 76 Tim Stokes T 67 Karl Swanke T 65 Mike Wellman C Defensive linemen 77 Mike Butler DE 92 Rich Dimler DT 99 Charlie Johnson DT 90 Ezra Johnson DE 63 Terry Jones DT 72 Kit Lathrop DT 66 Mike Lewis DT 78 Casey Merrill DE		Linebackers 60 Kurt Allerman 59 John Anderson 58 Bruce Beekley 65 Brian Cabral 52 George Cumby 53 Mike Douglass 51 Jim Gueno 56 Ed O'Neil 70 Paul Rudzinski Defensive backs 24 Johnnie Gray 38 Estus Hood CB 21 Mike Jolly 22 Mark Lee CB 46 Steve Luke 29 Mike McCoy 20 Wylie Turner Special teams 11 David Beverly P 16 Tom Birney K 10 Jan Stenerud K		Reserve lists 55 Mike Hunt LB (IR) 79 Mark Koncar T (IR) 33 Barty Smith RB (IR) 26 Eric Torkelson RB (IR) 10 Bill Troup QB (IR) Practice squad Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Game site	NFL.com recap
1	September 7	Chicago Bears	W 12–6 (OT)	1–0	Lambeau Field	Recap
2	September 14	Detroit Lions	L 7–29	1–1	Milwaukee County Stadium	Recap
3	September 21	at Los Angeles Rams	L 21–51	1–2	Anaheim Stadium	Recap
4	September 28	Dallas Cowboys	L 7–28	1–3	Milwaukee County Stadium	Recap
5	October 5	Cincinnati Bengals	W 14–9	2–3	Lambeau Field	Recap
6	October 12	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	T 14–14 (OT)	2–3–1	Tampa Stadium	Recap
7	October 19	at Cleveland Browns	L 21–26	2–4–1	Cleveland Stadium	Recap
8	October 26	Minnesota Vikings	W 16–3	3–4–1	Lambeau Field	Recap
9	November 2	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 20–22	3–5–1	Three Rivers Stadium	Recap
10	November 9	San Francisco 49ers	W 23–16	4–5–1	Milwaukee County Stadium	Recap
11	November 16	at New York Giants	L 21–27	4–6–1	Giants Stadium	Recap
12	November 23	at Minnesota Vikings	W 25–13	5–6–1	Metropolitan Stadium	Recap
13	November 30	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	L 17–20	5–7–1	Milwaukee County Stadium	Recap
14	December 7	at Chicago Bears	L 7–61	5–8–1	Soldier Field	Recap
15	December 14	Houston Oilers	L 3–22	5–9–1	Lambeau Field	Recap
16	December 21	at Detroit Lions	L 3–24	5–10–1	Pontiac Silverdome	Recap

Standings

NFC Central
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Minnesota Vikings^(3)	9	7	0	.563	5–3	8–4	317	308	L1
Detroit Lions	9	7	0	.563	5–3	9–5	334	272	W2
Chicago Bears	7	9	0	.438	5–3	7–5	304	264	W1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	5	10	1	.344	1–6–1	4–7–1	271	341	L3
Green Bay Packers	5	10	1	.344	3–4–1	4–7–1	231	371	L4

Game summaries

Week 1: vs. Chicago Bears

Week 1: Chicago Bears at Green Bay Packers

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Bears	3	0	3	0	0	6
Packers	0	6	0	0	6	12

at Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wisconsin

• Date: September 7, 1980
• Game time: 1:00 p.m. CST
• Game weather: Overcast, 65 °F (18 °C)
• TV announcers (CBS): Lindsey Nelson and Sonny Jurgensen

Game information
First quarter Second quarter Third quarter Fourth quarter Top passers CHI – Mike Phipps – 17/30, 174 yards, 3 INT GB – Lynn Dickey – 10/22, 138 yards, 1 INT Top rushers CHI – Walter Payton – 31 rushes, 65 yards GB – Eddie Lee Ivery – 15 rushes, 73 yards Top receivers CHI – James Scott – 5 receptions, 59 yards GB – James Lofton – 5 receptions, 77 yards

Week 2: vs. Detroit Lions

Week 2: Detroit Lions at Green Bay Packers

	1	2	3	4	Total
Lions	3	0	3	0	6
Packers	0	6	0	0	6

at Milwaukee County Stadium, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

• Date: September 14, 1980
• Game time: 1:00 p.m. CST
• Game weather: Overcast, 64 °F (18 °C)
• TV announcers (CBS): Frank Glieber and Roger Staubach

Game information
First quarter Second quarter Third quarter Fourth quarter Top passers DET – Gary Danielson – 11/17, 246 yards, 1 TD GB – Lynn Dickey – 16/30, 174 yards, 1 INT Top rushers DET – Billy Sims – 20 rushes, 134 yards, 1 TD GB – Eddie Lee Ivery – 10 rushes, 31 yards, 1 TD Top receivers DET – Dexter Bussey – 5 receptions, 74 yards GB – James Lofton – 4 receptions, 73 yards

Week 4: vs. Dallas Cowboys

Week 4: Dallas Cowboys at Green Bay Packers

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cowboys	7	7	7	7	28
Packers	0	7	0	0	7

at Milwaukee County Stadium, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

• Date: September 28, 1980
• Game time: 1:00 p.m. CST
• Game weather: Overcast, 55 °F (13 °C)
• TV announcers (CBS): Lindsey Nelson and Sonny Jurgensen

Game information
First quarter Second quarter Third quarter Fourth quarter Top passers DAL – Danny White – 16/20, 217 yards, 2 TD GB – Lynn Dickey – 11/26, 141 yards, 1 INT Top rushers DAL – Tony Dorsett – 22 rushes, 77 yards, 1 TD GB – Eddie Lee Ivery – 9 rushes, 58 yards Top receivers DAL – Tony Hill – 5 receptions, 71 yards GB – Aundra Thompson – 5 receptions, 77 yards

Awards and records

Hall of Famers

In 1980 Packer great Herb Adderley was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame

References

1. "All Time Coaches Database". Packers.com. Retrieved February 22, 2011.