

In 1935, Elmer Layden was Notre Dame’s head coach for the “ Game of the Century” against Ohio State. After a successful game against Georgia Tech, Kizer, a lineman on the team, said, “That Hail Mary play is the best play we got.” They often spoke about how they said a Hail Mary prayer before touchdown attempts. Kizer and Layden played football in the early 1920s for Notre Dame, a Catholic college. Most people credit Elmer Layden and Nobel Kizer as the first people to name the Hail Mary pass in football. Using a Hail Mary pass in this way early on can help make sure that a team doesn’t return from half-time down too many points. A team may opt to use a desperation pass in the first half of a game to try and get in field goal range. However, there are some specific circumstances when a team may use Hail Mary pass as a tactical move. In most cases, a successful Hail Mary pass results in a touchdown, resulting in six points of offense. If a wide receiver catches the ball in the end zone, it results in a touchdown. Often, the play results in a jump ball, with a group of receivers and defensive backs leaping to try and catch the pass. While it’s not an overly complicated play, it can be vitally important to the result of a game. Find out everything you need to learn about the play and more below.Ī Hail Mary pass is a long-range forward pass towards the end zone. The desperation throw has a name, and the name is the Hail Mary play. That was the practice that evolved into the great prayer cycle called the Rosary (see Rosary).Typically with a few seconds left on the clock and the offense needing a touchdown to tie or win the game, you might see the quarterback throw a desperation pass to the end zone.
DEFINE HAIL MARY FOOTBALL SERIES
So the Hail Mary is now recited as a reminder and plea to Mary that she is to bring sinners into the presence of Christ upon their death.ĭuring the sixteenth century it became the custom to recite the Hail Mary 150 times in a series of ten repetitions called a "decade," interspersed with prayers recalling the mysteries of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection. Jesus said to her, "Woman, behold thy son." But more important, he entrusted the disciple into the care of his mother when he said, "Behold thy mother." Catholics believe that act established a precedent. Here, Elizabeth, "kinswoman" to Mary and the mother of John the Baptist, greets Mary with the words, "Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb."įinally, some time in the fifteenth century, the final phrase was added: "Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death."Īt the crucifixion, Jesus entrusted his mother into the care of the disciple generally thought to be Saint John, the apostle.


As years went by, the second portion of the prayer was added, a direct quote from Luke 1:42. The prayer seems to have begun to evolve in the Middle Ages when Mary, it is believed, began to appear to Christians, attesting to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
DEFINE HAIL MARY FOOTBALL FULL
These words became the opening line of the prayer: "Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee." Blessed art thou among women" (Luke 1:28). The words come from the salutation of the angel Gabriel when he appeared to Mary to announce the birth of Jesus: "Hail, favored one, the Lord is with thee. The second, referred to as the "Hail Mary," is addressed to Mary, the mother of Jesus. The first, often called the "Our Father," is addressed to God. Two great prayers of the Catholic tradition are known by their opening words. Hail Mary (religion, spiritualism, and occult) The prayer known as “Hail Mary” began to evolve during the Middle Ages. Figure of the Virgin Mary at a roadside shrine at Mamore Gap in County Donegal, Ireland.
