Hail Mary shot (1965)

[Benjamin Zimmer]

A new OED draft entry:

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Hail Mary, phr. and n.
Chiefly N. Amer. Sport. A desperate play or manoeuvre having a very low
likelihood of success; (Amer. Football) a long pass thrown into or near
the end zone by a losing team as time is running out. Chiefly attrib.
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The first cite is from 1972 in the Sporting News, quoting Roger Staubach,
who was using the expression "Hail Mary play" a few years before his
famous pass in the 1975 NFC Division Playoff game.  (Barry Popik
contributed this cite to the list in Dec. 2003.)  But "Hail Mary shot" was
used in college basketball several years before the the football usage:

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1965 _Ironwood Daily Globe_ (Mich.) 20 Dec. 10/4 Tom Flynn called it his
"Hail Mary shot" and here's how he described it: "I just grabbed it and
threw it," said the Marquette captain whose shot in the final two seconds
gave Marquette a 75-74 basketball victory over Washington Saturday night
and the Milwaukee Classic championship.
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--Ben Zimmer