The funny thing about the origins of the term “Hail Mary” is the original one probably wasn’t technically a Hail Mary.
In the 1975 playoffs, the Dallas Cowboys knocked off the Minnesota Vikings when Roger Staubach hit Drew Pearson down the sideline for the go-ahead score. Afterward, Staubach told reporters he said a Hail Mary as he threw the ball, and five decades later the term is part of our sports lexicon. But for that play, there were 32 seconds left. It’s not the wild heave downfield into a crowd that we associate with the Hail Mary play today.
It’s not what Jayden Daniels did on Sunday for the Washington Commanders.
Daniels’ 52-yard touchdown to Noah Brown with no time on the clock beat the Chicago Bears and will be remembered for a long, long time.
The reason we remember the Hail Mary plays through NFL history is they’re rare. Daniels’ heave immediately became one of the greatest Hail Marys in NFL history because it’s one of the few that has been successful.
Let’s take a trip down memory lane and figure out where Daniels to Brown might rank.
If we’re being honest, Doug Flutie’s Hail Mary is the greatest ever and it will be nearly impossible to beat. In 1984 Flutie’s miracle beat Miami, finishing an incredible game, to lift Boston College to a win was Flutie’s Heisman Trophy moment. When Hail Mary is mentioned, Flutie is the first name to come up.
However, if you prefer Kordell Stewart to Michael Westbrook to lift Colorado over Michigan in 1994, that’s reasonable too.
September 24, 1994: Colorado quarterback Kordell Stewart (@KSlash10) throws a 70+ yard hail mary bomb that is deflected into the hands of Michael Westbrook for the game-winning TD to beat Michigan 27-26 pic.twitter.com/gMIcoEYeWy
— This Day In Sports Clips (@TDISportsClips) September 25, 2022
Two great college plays. And if we’re being honest, they are more enduring than any NFL Hail Mary. So let’s keep them in their own category, and just compare Daniels’ play with the great NFL Hail Marys.
Rodgers has been the master of the Hail Mary, even completing one at the end of the first half of a game this season. He has two you can reasonable argue as the greatest ever.
In 2015, Rodgers threw a long Hail Mary that Richard Rodgers caught to beat the Detroit Lions on a Thursday night. That play was only possible because the Lions had a facemask penalty to give Green Bay one last untimed down. The height and distance on the pass made it a majestic highlight.
For sheer degree of difficulty, Rodgers’ heave to Jeff Janis to tie a playoff game in overtime at the Arizona Cardinals later that season is hard to beat. It’s a ridiculous throw. The only downgrades are it didn’t win the game, just tied it, and the Packers lost in overtime. But the play itself is beyond belief.
Speaking of degree of difficulty, from Kyler Murray’s throw to DeAndre Hopkins’ unreal catch between three Buffalo Bills defensive backs in the end zone, the “Hail Murray” from 2020 is ridiculous. It’s probably the best catch ever on a Hail Mary.
Let’s go back in time. The 1980 Minnesota Vikings needed a win to clinch the NFC Central and had a wild comeback to beat the Cleveland Browns, scoring three straight touchdowns in the fourth quarter to win it 28-23. The final score, which was set up by a 34-yard hook and ladder on the second-to-last play of the game, was a Hail Mary that Tommy Kramer threw and Ahmad Rashad reached out and grabbed with one hand.
People forget that Ahmad Rashad was a very good receiver for the Vikings. Here is a clip of his one-handed Hail Mary catch against Cleveland. pic.twitter.com/qF5k6WuvyJ
— Jarrett Bailey (@JBaileyNFL) May 4, 2020
To clinch a division title on that? Not bad.
This one should be remembered more often. The 1999 expansion Browns were 0-7 in their first season back in the NFL. They were losing at the Superdome to the New Orleans Saints when Tim Couch threw one deep and hoped. And Kevin Johnson answered.
October 31, 1999: Tim Couch hits Kevin Johnson for a 58-yd Hail Mary TD to give the previously 0-7 Cleveland Browns (in their 1st season back since losing the team to Baltimore after ‘95 season) a 21-16 win in New Orleans.
It was the franchise’s first victory in 1,409 days. pic.twitter.com/4XMNWrLN8Z
— This Day In Sports Clips (@TDISportsClips) October 31, 2022
There’s no better way to get win No. 1.
The 1983 Atlanta Falcons’ Hail Mary has to be mentioned. Billy “White Shoes” Johnson fell down, got up and had a ball carom right to him. He got past the San Francisco 49ers’ defenders to the goal line for the win. Was he down before he scored? Probably. But there was no replay, and we kept an enduring highlight.
We’ve seen Sunday’s incredible highlight by now, but let’s relive it again. It’s a masterpiece, including Daniels buying more than 12 seconds of time to let his players set up.
Some Hail Marys didn’t make the list. The Fail Mary by the Seahawks was memorable, but more for the officiating debacle. Some didn’t happen on the final play, or weren’t long enough to look like true Hail Marys, or others just were better. So we see you, Roger Staubach, David Garrard, Brett Favre, Rod Smith and the rest of the Hail Mary throwers and catchers who thrilled us. You’re just not at the top of the list.
Daniels’ season matters in the conversation. If he continues what looks like a special NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year season, it absolutely adds to what happened Sunday. It will be part of the lore of a great rookie season. Just like Rodgers’ Hail Marys have a special place because he’s one of the greatest players ever.
Daniels to Brown is fresh but let’s not be a prisoner of the moment. It’s not the greatest. Instead we’ll go with Rashad’s one-handed grab for the 1980 Vikings as the greatest NFL Hail Mary, considering how the play was set up with a fun trick play, the full comeback for Minnesota that day and the Hail Mary clinching a division title. Rodgers to Rodgers (the longest Hail Mary in NFL history) is not far behind though. That just means Daniels will have to pull off another, greater one that can take the top spot.
