As far back as the 1920s, players at the University of Notre Dame used the term. It wasn’t the first time the name had been applied to a desperate play. Afterward, Staubach told reporters, “It was a Hail Mary pass”. The catch gave Dallas the win, advancing them to the NFC Championship game. Pearson collided with a defender while adjusting to the ball, knocking him to the ground.

Roger Staubach launched a desperation pass fifty yards downfield toward Drew Pearson. They had the ball near midfield, with 32 seconds left in the game. The Dallas Cowboys trailed the Minnesota Vikings 14-10. Many believe the last second long pass to or near the end zone known as the Hail Mary to have been so christened on Decem, in a divisional playoff game. We’ve provided links to each play within the body of each entry.) 10. (Note: while these plays are all available to view on YouTube, most are also restricted from being embedded here. Spoiler alert: Neither Aaron Rodgers, nor Tom Brady, figure in any of them. Here is a subjective list of the top ten plays in NFL playoff history. And the NFL has generated plenty of both in the playoffs going back, at least here, to 1958. Great plays, and great controversies, are magnified during the playoffs, when every game is televised to a national audience. Meanwhile, fans of the team benefiting from such plays tout them as signs of their team’s superiority, in players, game calling, and football skill. They claim some of the NFL’s greatest plays occurred because of misinterpretation of rules, unseen interference, or some other explanation of the calamity to their team. Fans of the victims of a great play bemoan missed calls by officials.

What constitutes a great play is often in the eye of the beholder.

Hail mary football steelers