Hail Mary pass
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A Hail Mary pass or Hail Mary play in American football is a term made famous when "Hail Mary" was used by the press to describe the game winning touchdown pass by Roger Staubach to Drew Pearson, in the 1975 wild card playoff. It is now a common term often used to refer to any forward pass made in desperation, with only a small chance of success (colloquially speaking, it "has a prayer's chance"). The term Hail Mary pass is often used for any long completed forward pass thrown near the end of a game.
The phrase was brought to mainstream use in 1975 when the press described that game winning pass by Dallas Cowboys quarterback, Roger Staubach in their 1975 upset win in the wild card playoffs, as a "Hail Mary". The phrase became popular after it was reported that Staubach stated, "I closed my eyes and said a Hail Mary prayer". [1] Prior to this such long ball desperation passes had been more commonly called by other names, such as the "Alley oop". This play is also sometimes called a "long bomb".
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[edit] Setup
There is no one setup, although many teams may have a "Hail Mary" type play in their playbooks. As anyone who has played organized American football at any level knows, more often such plays are called a "post," although most plays in football playbooks have numerical tags and not clever 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 of 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 backs, 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.
[edit] Defense
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Defending against the Hail Mary is straightforward. 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.
[edit] Origins
The term "Hail Mary pass" was used by the press to describe a pass by Dallas Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach in the 1975 wild card playoffs. The term first came into mainstream use by the sporting press resulting from an interview shortly after the game-winning touchdown pass. Staubach, referring to his desperation (and Catholic beliefs), for his game-winning touchdown pass in a December 28, 1975 NFC semifinal playoff game.
With 24 seconds remaining, Staubach threw a long pass to receiver Drew Pearson, who was being covered by cornerback Nate Wright. As the ball came down Pearson and Wright jumped for the ball, Pearson caught the ball pinned slightly against his right hip and stepped into the end zone for the winning touchdown. In discussing the play during a post-game interview, Staubach told reporters that he closed his eyes, threw the ball as hard as he could, and said a Hail Mary prayer.
[edit] Examples
After the original Hail Mary by Roger Staubach, another Hail Mary pass came in a 1984 game between Boston College and Miami (FL). With just 6 seconds left on the clock, BC quarterback Doug Flutie threw what was by then 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 would be unable 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.[2] A connecting road in Natick, where Flutie played for the high school, has been named "Flutie Pass". Also in the 2005 Capital One Bowl Iowa Hawkeyes quarterback Drew Tate threw the pass with 4 seconds left to his receiver Holloway to defeat the LSU tigers. (See also Flutie effect)
[edit] 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 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 [3]
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. [4]
During an episode of the documentary series Deadliest Catch entitled "Seeking the Catch" (first broadcast May 20, 2008), a deckhand aboard a crab-fishing vessel makes a desperation throw of a boat hook in order to snag an errant fishing pot; the narration refers to this successful action as a Hail Mary throw.
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[5], and later, to his attempt to win Pennsylvania and "toss-up" states in order to win the election[6].
[edit] References
- "The Famous Hail Mary Pass". Viking Update. 2001-07-20. http://vikings.scout.com/2/11650.html. Retrieved on 2007-03-20.
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