A Hail Mary pass or Hail Mary route in American football refers to any very long forward pass made in desperation with only a small chance of success, especially at or near the end of a half.
The expression goes back at least to the 1930s, being used publicly in that decade by two former members of Notre Dame's Four Horsemen, Elmer Layden and Jim Crowley. Originally meaning any sort of desperation play, a "Hail Mary" gradually came to denote a long, low-probability pass. For more than forty years its use was largely confined to Notre Dame and other Catholic universities.
The term became widespread after Dallas Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach (a Roman Catholic) said about his game-winning touchdown pass to wide receiver Drew Pearson in a 1975 playoff game against the Minnesota Vikings, "I closed my eyes and said a Hail Mary."
Read more about Hail Mary Pass: Origins, Staubach To Pearson, 1975, Setup, Defense, Examples, In Other Fields
Famous quotes containing the words hail mary, hail and/or pass:
“You can’t run the Church on Hail Marys.”
—Paul Marcinkus (b. 1922)
“But hail thou Goddess, sage and holy,
Hail divinest Melancholy,
Whose saintly visage is too bright
To hit the sense of human sight,
And therefore to our weaker view
O’erlaid with black, staid Wisdom’s hue;”
—John Milton (1608–1674)
“I always pass on good advice. It is the only thing to do with it. It is never of any use to oneself.”
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)