Hail Mary pass Hail Mary pass A Hail Mary pass, also known as a shot play, is a very long forward pass in American football, made in desperation, with only a small chance of success and time running out on the clock. The term became widespread after a December 28, 1975 NFL playoff game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Minnesota Vikings, when Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach (a Roman Catholic and fan of "The Godfather Part II" (1974), whose character Fredo had popularized the phrase) said about his game-winning touchdown pass to wide receiver Drew Pearson, "I closed my eyes and said a
Hail Mary Luke, the prayer takes different forms in various traditions. It has often been set to music. The prayer incorporates two greetings to Mary in Saint Luke's Gospel: "Hail, the Lord is with thee." and "Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb." In mid-13th-century Western Europe the prayer consisted only of these words with the single addition of the name "Mary" after the word "Hail", as is evident from the commentary of Saint Thomas Aquinas on the prayer. The first of the two passages from Saint Luke's Gospel is the greeting of the Angel Gabriel