The term “Hail Mary” can also be applied to everyday life, with it coming to mean any last-minute attempt to pull off some very unlikely event. In most cases, the “Hail Mary” is attempted at the end of a game when a quarterback flings the ball as hard as they can into the endzone, with members of both teams jumping up to attempt to catch the ball. The term “Hail Mary” has now come to mean any long touchdown pass attempt that has a very low probability of being completed.

Note: the Cowboys won that game 17-14, with Staubach completing a 50 yard pass to Drew Pearson to win the game. One who hails is a hailer, though this term is all but unknown except in the British English term loud-hailer, the name of a device also known as a megaphone or a bullhorn. The term was used prior to this, especially at Notre Dame and other Catholic universities, though Roger Staubach popularized the phase. Meanwhile, the Catholic devotional salutation Hail, Mary inspired the colorful expression Hail Mary pass or Hail Mary play to describe a desperate gambit in football. During a playoff game between the Dallas Cowboys and Minnesota Vikings, Roger Staubach tossed the winning touchdown and afterwards said to reporters that he closed his eyes and said “Hail Mary”, meaning that he was calling on divine intervention to complete the winning pass.

In terms of the world of football, the term “Hail Mary” was popularized on December 28th, 1975. The term “Hail Mary” originated from a traditional Catholic prayer in which the person praying calls on divine intervention from the Virgin Mary. What does “Hail Mary” stand for in football?

Hail mary football expression