Date: Dec. 28, 1975
Location: Metropolitan Stadium, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Final score: Dallas Cowboys 17, Minnesota Vikings 14 (NFC divisional game)
Bottom line: The “Hail Mary” pass became a common football phrase because of this play. Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach coined the term after his desperation heave landed in Drew Pearson’s hands to give Dallas the win.
“I was kidding around with the writers,” Staubach said. “Then they asked the question. I said, ‘I got knocked down on the play. … I closed my eyes and said a Hail Mary.’ It slowly became the term for anybody that was kind of in trouble, and you had a hope. You used to have a wing and a prayer, and now the Hail Mary is used for politics, for business, and for football.”
