Hail Mary pass A Hail Mary pass or Hail Mary route in American football is 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 attempted at the end of a half when a team is too far from the end zone to execute a more conventional play . For more than forty years use of the term 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 December 28 , 1975 playoff game against the Minnesota Vikings , " I closed my eyes and said a Hail Mary . " Origins . The former Notre Dame halfback Jim Crowley often told the story of an October 28 , 1922 , game between Notre Dame and Georgia Tech in which the Fighting Irish players said Hail Mary prayers together before scoring each of the touchdowns , winning the game 13 to 3 . According to Crowley , it was one of the team ’ s linemen , Noble Kizer ( a Presbyterian ) , who suggested praying before the first touchdown , which occurred on a fourth and goal play at the Tech 6 - yard line during the second quarter . Quarterback Harry Stuhldreher , another of the Horsemen , threw a quick pass over the middle to Paul Castner for the score . The ritual was repeated before a third and goal play , again at Tech ’ s six , in the fourth quarter . This time Stuhldreher ran for a touchdown , which sealed the win for Notre Dame . After the game , Kizer exclaimed to Crowley , “ Say , that Hail Mary is the best play we ’ ve got . ” Crowley related this story many times in public speeches beginning in the 1930s . On November 2 , 1935 , with 32 seconds left in the so - called " Game of the Century " between Ohio State and Notre Dame , Irish halfback Bill Shakespeare found receiver Wayne Millner for a 19 - yard , game - winning touchdown . Notre Dame head coach Elmer Layden ( who had played in the 1922 Georgia Tech game ) afterwards called it a “ Hail Mary ” play . An early appearance of the term was in an Associated Press story about the upcoming 1941 Orange Bowl , appearing in several newspapers including the December 31 , 1940 " Daytona Beach Morning Journal " under the headline , " Orange Bowl : [ Georgetown ] Hoyas Put Faith in ' Hail Mary ' Pass " ) . As the article explained , " A ‘ hail Mary ’ pass , in the talk of the Washington eleven , is one that is thrown with a prayer because the odds against completion are big . " During an NBC broadcast in 1963 , Roger Staubach , then a Navy quarterback , described a pass play during his team ’ s victory over Michigan that year as a “ Hail Mary play . ” He scrambled to escape a pass rush , nearly getting sacked 20 yards behind the line of scrimmage before completing a desperation pass for a one - yard gain . Staubach to Pearson , 1975 . The term " Hail Mary pass " was introduced into the modern - day lexicon by the sporting press to characterize the famous Staubach - to - Pearson pass . It stemmed from a post - game interview with Staubach who described his desperation by referencing the term from his Catholic faith . The Cowboys started the game - winning drive with the ball on their own 15 - yard line , trailing 14 – 10 with 1 : 50 left in the game . After a spectacular catch by Pearson on fourth and 17 brought the Cowboys to midfield with just 37 seconds left , Staubach then tried to hit running back Preston Pearson ( no relation to Drew ) with a short pass over the middle , but the ball fell incomplete . Then , with 32 seconds remaining Staubach again lined up in the shotgun formation , took the snap , pump - faked left , then turned to his right and unloaded a desperation pass to Drew Pearson who was being covered by All - Pro cornerback Nate Wright . Wright fell down , allowing Pearson to make the catch by trapping the ball against his right hip at the 5 - yard line with his back to the end zone . He then turned and scored standing up with 24 seconds left . Pearson said later that he thought he had dropped the ball only to find it pinned against his hip and then " I just waltzed right into the end zone . " With the extra point , Dallas went up by a field goal – 17 – 14 , which was the final score . In response to Wright ' s claim that he was pushed , Pearson said , " I used that swim move that receivers use to get inside position on defensive backs . There was contact with Nate Wright , but there was no deliberate push . " Reactions . As Pearson strode into the end zone for the score , free safety Paul Krause complained to field judge Armen Terzian that an interference penalty on Pearson should have been called . An orange , thrown by a spectator in the stands , whizzed by Pearson at the goal line . The orange is visible on NFL Films footage of the play and was initially confused by some as a penalty flag and was also misinterpreted by the Vikings defense as a penalty . More debris was thrown from the stands by angry Vikings fans , enraged that no penalty was called on Dallas . Defensive tackle Alan Page argued with officials and was assessed a 15 - yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the ensuing kickoff . On Minnesota ' s next possession with 14 seconds left to play , a Corby ' s whiskey bottle was thrown by a spectator , striking referee Armen Terzian in the head at Minnesota ' s own 10 - yard line , creating a large forehead gash and rendering him unconscious . Terzian had to wear a bandage , later requiring 11 stitches , as he walked off the field and was replaced by substitute official Charley Musser for the final two plays . Aftermath . The term " Hail Mary pass " was used by Roger Staubach following the game in a post - game interview . Previous to this play , a last - second desperation pass had been called several names , most notably the " Alley - Oop " . Staubach , who had been hit immediately after throwing the ball and didn ' t see its ending , was asked about the play and he said , " You mean [ Pearson ] caught the ball and ran in for the touchdown ? It was just a Hail Mary pass ; a very , very lucky play . " Staubach told reporters " I closed my eyes and said a Hail Mary " . This was among the plays by Roger Staubach that enhanced his fame and legend as noted in NFL Hall of Fame Archives . Shortly after the game concluded , Vikings quarterback Fran Tarkenton was informed that his father , Dallas Tarkenton , had died of a heart attack during the third quarter while watching the game on television at his Savannah , Georgia , home . Setup . There is no one setup , although many teams may have a " Hail Mary " type play in their playbooks . More often such plays are called a " post " or a " fly , " although most plays in football playbooks have numerical tags as opposed to names . Generally there is no standard " Hail Mary Play . " A play is more often " called " " Hail Mary " after the fact , that is " if " and " after " it has worked out against all odds and resulted in a score in the final moments . It is more a descriptive term of a sports moment , as opposed to a planned play . Although such plays have low percentage chance of completion , there is likely some type of long pass play in every playbook at the professional and college level . Such a " long ball " " post " pass can occur with four or five wide receivers in the singleback formation or with four or five wide receivers in the standard or shotgun formation . Generally , three or more eligible receivers are lined up on the short side of the field and all run a fly pattern . The running back s , if in the play , may be kept in to block . Sometimes the team running a post will not even have a running back in the backfield , instead choosing to use every possible eligible receiver ( five of them ) to run a pass route , hoping to spread out the defense and give the quarterback more passing options . The quarterback throws towards a receiver , making the decision as to which one within 2 – 2 . 5 seconds of getting the snap . The Hail Mary pass does not always need to be completed to move the ball for the offense . It may succeed in drawing a pass interference penalty on the defense ( a strong possibility with so many receivers running deep routes for the defense to cover ) , which gives the offense the ability to run another play with better field position in all situations ( since the game cannot end on a defensive penalty , even if there is no time left on the clock ) . In college it may not help much as pass interference is only a spot foul up to 15 yards , while in the NFL , it is a spot foul no matter where it occurs , with the ball placed at the 1 yard line if the infraction occurs in the end zone . Defense . The standard defense against the Hail Mary pass is the prevent defense . The first priority is to ensure the defensive backs are in zone coverage , and that they keep the receivers well in front of them until the ball is thrown . Second , generally no more than four defensive linemen rush the quarterback , with all the linebackers dropping back to prevent a shorter pass . In many cases , the defense will remove some of its linebackers and linemen and replace them with extra defensive backs , in order to help compensate when the opposing team brings in extra receivers , leading to there being five or six defensive backs on the field instead of the usual four , generally known as the nickel and dime packages , respectively . Once the ball gets down field , the primary role of the defensive back is to knock the ball to the ground , thus ending the play , and preventing something such as an offensive player stripping the ball , a tipped pass resulting in a reception , or a fumble that could happen if the defensive player intercepted the ball . Occasionally , especially in college football , offensive players ( usually wide receivers ) will be put in on defense to defend a Hail Mary . Hail Mary passes are most successful when the defense is in the wrong alignment . If the defense is in man - to - man coverage , and a receiver manages to break coverage by getting further down field than the nearest defensive back , the chance of success is greatly improved . Examples . In the 1980 Holiday Bowl , BYU was down 45 – 25 with 4 minutes left in the game . Quarterback Jim McMahon spearheaded a last - gasp come - from - behind victory , capping the comeback with a successful Hail Mary pass to tight end Clay Brown as time expired that tied the game ; Kurt Gunther ' s extra point gave BYU its first - ever bowl win , defeating SMU 46 – 45 . This game is known among BYU fans as the " Miracle Bowl " . Another Hail Mary pass came in a 1984 game between Boston College and Miami ( FL ) . With just 6 seconds left on the clock , Boston College quarterback Doug Flutie threw what was by then commonly called a Hail Mary pass , which succeeded primarily because Miami ' s secondary stood on the goal line to keep the receivers in front of them , and failed to cover a post route being run by Gerard Phelan . Miami ' s defense was based on the assumption that Flutie wasn ' t able to throw the ball as far as the end zone , but Flutie hit Phelan in stride against a flatfooted defense a yard deep in the end zone . A connecting road in Natick , where Flutie played for the high school , has been named " Flutie Pass " . Other examples include a 64 - yard pass from Colorado QB Kordell Stewart to WR Michael Westbrook to beat Michigan on 24 September 1994 ( Stewart ' s pass traveled 73 yards in the air , from the Colorado 26 to the opposite 1 yard line , was tipped , then caught by Westbrook 4 yards deep in the endzone ) , the Bluegrass Miracle , a Hail Mary pass by LSU Tigers QB Marcus Randall with 2 seconds to go in the Kentucky - LSU game on 9 November 2002 , and " Rocket " , a Hail Mary pass by Michigan State quarterback Kirk Cousins to wide receiver Keith Nichol to beat Wisconsin on 22 October 2011 . In other fields . The term " Hail Mary pass " has become generalized to refer to any last - ditch effort with little chance of success . In basketball , A " Hail Mary shot " or " Hail Mary throw " is a shot thrown from a place far away from the basket ( e . g . behind the half court line . ) There are similar usages in other fields , such as a " Hail Mary shot " in photography where the photographer holds the view finder of an SLR camera far from his eye ( so unable to compose the picture ) , usually high above his head , and takes a shot . This is often used in crowded situations In 1991 , Norman Schwarzkopf ( Desert Storm commander ) likened his strategy of flanking Iraqi defenders ( by sending his forces in a westward direction to get behind them ) to a Hail Mary play . During the 2008 United States presidential election , Senator Chuck Schumer criticized John McCain ' s vice presidential pick , Alaska Governor Sarah Palin , by calling it a " Hail Mary pass " . The term was also applied to his decision to suspend his campaign , and later , to his attempt to win Pennsylvania and " toss - up " states in order to win the election . In the 1996 movie " Executive Decision " , commander in charge Lieutenant Colonel Austin Travis ( Steven Seagal ) describes the severity of a possible mission to Pentagon officials as " Hail Mary " . This phrase eventually employed as the code name of the mission , denoting to its last - chance nature . In the 2010 movie " Extraordinary Measures " , Dr . Robert Stonehill ( Harrison Ford ) uses the phrase during his conversation with John Crowley ( Brendan Fraser ) referring to chance of approval for sibling trial ( a clinical trial ) of an enzyme developed for treatment of Pompe , from which John Crowley ' s two children suffer .