Meaning
A desperate, last-ditch attempt with slim odds of success: originally a long forward pass in American football, heaved into or near the end zone in the final seconds of a half in the hope that a receiver will come down with it, and now used figuratively for any long-shot gambit in politics, business, law or everyday life. Usually framed as throw a hail Mary or a hail Mary pass. Capitalized for the prayer; sports and figurative uses vary. Connotes both desperation and last-chance timing - not merely a long shot, but a final one. Regional use: United States origin, from American football; now used throughout the English-speaking world.
Origin
From the Catholic prayer to the Virgin Mary, whose English name is ancient: the OED's earliest evidence for Hail Mary is 1340, in the Ayenbite of Inwyt - verified directly. The football sense grew up at Notre Dame. The traditional story credits the 28 October 1922 Notre Dame versus Georgia Tech game, where players said Hail Mary prayers before scores, but teammate Noble Kizer's much-quoted line comes from Jim Crowley's retellings in the 1930s, not contemporary print, so the 1922 first use is anecdotal. An Associated Press preview of 31 December 1940 defines the Hail Mary pass as one thrown with a prayer because the odds against completion are big. The OED dates the American football sense to the 1970s, matching its popularizer: Roger Staubach's 28 December 1975 Cowboys-Vikings playoff touchdown to Drew Pearson - verified on Wikipedia - after which Staubach said, I closed my eyes and said a Hail Mary. Staubach did not coin the term; decades of Catholic-college use antedate him, but he made it national.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- a hail Mary play
- Hail Mary pass
- throw a hail Mary
Usage Examples
- With the merger collapsing and payroll due Friday, the CEO threw a hail Mary - a midnight pitch to the one investor who had never said no.
- Trailing by four with two seconds left, the quarterback heaved a hail Mary toward the end zone, and the whole stadium rose as the ball hung in the lights.
- The legal team admitted the suit was a hail Mary, but with the deadline hours away they had no other card to play.