[Ads-l] Fw: Barry Popik Major Antedating of "Hail Mary" Football Play

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Here is the pertinent sense of "Hail Mary" listed in the OED.

[Begin OED sense for Hail Mary]
Chiefly North American Sport. A desperate play or manoeuvre having a
very low likelihood of success; (American Football) a long pass thrown
into or near the end zone by a losing team as time is running out.
Chiefly attributive.
[Begin OED sense for Hail Mary]

Here is a citation for "Hail Mary passes" in 1935.

Date: October 27, 1935
Newspaper: Brooklyn Times Union
Newspaper Location: Brooklyn, New York
Article: North Carolina State Drubs Manhattan by 20-0 Score
(Continuation: North Carolina St. Tames Jaspers, 20-0)
Quote Page 2A, Column 4
Database: Newspapers.com
https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-passes/194810258/

[Begin excerpt]
Nothing seemed to matter in the last quarter. So Entwistle flipped a
couple of "Hail Mary" passes and the ball landed on Manhattan's 13. It
was easy from there. Instead of passing the next time, Entwistle broke
into a run and nobody stopped him until he had crossed the line in
coffin corner.
[End excerpt]

The meaning above differs a bit from the OED sense. The Hail Mary
passes were long and risky, but the team throwing the passes was not
desperate; instead, the team was confident because it held a
comfortable lead.

Wikipedia has an entry for "Hail Mary pass". The article cites the
Notre Dame anecdote for which LH has raised objections.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hail_Mary_pass

Barry Popik has an article on his website which lists the 1932
citation mentioned by Fred. Popik also lists a 1939 citation for "Hail
Mary play" which references the Notre Dame anecdote.

Hail Mary (1975 Roger Staubach pass)
https://barrypopik.com/blog/hail_mary_1975_roger_staubach_pass

Garson

On Fri, Apr 3, 2026 at 2:08 PM Laurence Horn
<00001c05436ff7cf-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
>
> Yes, that is almost exactly the usage of the Staubach pass. The only
> difference is that the Staubach context involves a sense of desperation
> (when the team needs a touchdown to tie or take the lead) or at least of
> nothing to lose (when it's the end of the half or the game, so that there's
> no negative consequence of a possible interception).  Evidently McFadden
> was willing to accept that risk rather than, as in the now-current use,
> having the context itself neutralize or override the downside risk.  What
> they share is the unlikelihood of success (whence the appeal for divine
> intervention).
>
> LH

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