Hail Mary pass

English

Etymology

From Hail Mary, a prayer for intercession, from Latin Ave Maria, plus pass (“moving the ball from one player to another”). Attested from the 1970s in the context of American football.

Noun

Hail Mary pass (plural Hail Mary passes)

1. (American football) A long forward pass with little chance of completion, typically used by the losing team when time is running out and no other play is practical, in a desperate attempt to score the winning points.
   • 1983, “A Run for the Roses”, in Michigan Ensian‎^[1], page 120:

     With 11:04 left in the game, and a comfortable 38–14 lead, Smith heaved a 62-yard, Hail Mary pass to Carter.

   • 1990, Michael Teitelbaum, Play Book! Football, →OCLC, page 35:

     Maybe I should just toss up a “Hail Mary” pass deep into their territory, as though I was saying a prayer that one of our players would catch it.

   • 2024 October 4, John Branch, “What Does College Football Have to Do With College?”, in The New York Times‎^[2], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:

     The black sky emptied as about 50,000 rain-soaked University of Colorado football fans exhaled in improbable joy at Folsom Field. This was after the Hail Mary pass caught as time expired, after the game-clinching fumble that squirted out of the end zone in overtime.

     (Can we archive this URL?)

2. (by extension) An act done in desperation, with only a very small chance of success.
   • 2010 September 11, Mark Mazzetti, “As Time Passes, the Goals in Afghanistan Shrink”, in The New York Times‎^[3], →ISSN:

     Some liken that offensive to a “Hail Mary” pass, with the Taliban still entrenched throughout southern and eastern Afghanistan and a program to persuade Talib soldiers to lay down arms and be “reintegrated” into Afghan society having achieved little so far.

Translations

American football: pass with little chance of completion

• German: Hail Mary (de) f, Hail Mary Pass m

act done in desperation

• German: Verzweiflungsakt m, Verzweiflungstat (de) f
• Icelandic: örvæntingarúrræði n
• Polish: stawiać wszystko na jedną kartę (pl) impf

See also

• forlorn hope (military)
• hospital pass

References

• “Hail Mary, phr. and n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.