Gators quarterback Feleipe Franks rolls out on the final play of Saturday's 26-20 win over Tennessee. (Photo: Tim Casey/UAA Communications)
Franks-to-Cleveland Sparks Hail Mary debate
Monday, September 18, 2017 | Football, Scott Carter
A closer look at the origination of the term "Hail Mary" and why Franks' pass to Cleveland is clearly, well, a Hail Mary.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – We live in an era of alternative facts, fake news, Twitter mobs and Hail Mary squabbles.
Yes, you read that correctly – Hail Mary squabbles. Oh, and #hashtags, too.
What a time to be alive.
If you stayed off social media after the Gators' pulsating win over Tennessee on Saturday, you probably have no clue what this is about.
Congratulations on spending your Sunday morning more wisely than I.
I hung out on Twitter as I often do to kick-start the morning and noticed several tweets directed my way about how Gators quarterback Feleipe Franks' 63-yard game-winning touchdown throw to receiver Tyrie Cleveland should not be described as a "Hail Mary."
The arguments essentially centered around the point made in this one:
If you follow me on Twitter, you know I tend to use it primarily as a Gators information-sharing tool and a light-hearted social platform for anything else. "I'm a man. I'm 40. I don't do Twitter arguments" is usually my general response when someone attacks with a keyboard. It's also my reasoning for not tweeting about my favorite cereal or who I think is the most important member of Guns N' Roses.
Too much noise in the system already.
So, I tossed a couple of soft jabs back at Hail Mary protestors and moved on, not giving it much more thought. And then I logged onto Twitter again last night and noticed more tweets saying "THAT WAS NOT A HAIL MARY!!!" Fortunately, my followers are generally civil folks, so no one threatened me with an ice pick or a free ticket to a Justin Bieber concert.
Heck, @FloridaGators even has a poll up today on Twitter for fans to vote, and surprisingly, those on my side of the fence are trailing. No worries fellow Hail Mary supporters. Plenty to time to catch up with a dose of truth and history.
Obviously, some fans – my hypothesis is mostly younger arm-chair quarterbacks unfamiliar with the game's history – only consider a Hail Mary as a pass of last resort thrown deep and high into a group of players who jump and try to catch the ball. Let me see if I can find any support for this hypothesis. Wow, took only nine seconds:
Sorry to pick on you Nick. Hey, totally understandable since those are the type of passes we see most often associated with the term "Hail Mary."
But let's dig just a little deeper and review the definition of the term on Dictionary.com.
It looks like I'm about 300 words into this blog and already pulled out the old dictionary-as-evidence tool we writers like to use once in a while to back us up. That's when I know it's time to wrap it up.
But wait, there's something better I discovered on the internet. It's out there for all to see. Do you know the original Hail Mary pass is actually young enough to have a home on YouTube? Seriously, check this out.
Also, check out this story by The Los Angeles Times in 2014 on the original Hail Mary pass and how it is part of the game's lore 40 years later.
I'm too young to remember watching it, but as a diehard fan of the Dallas Cowboys growing up, I recall countless connections between Roger Staubach and Drew Pearson at the end of the 1970s. The reason the term exists has to do more with Staubach than anyone else.
A paragraph from the origin of the Hail Mary in the LA Times' story linked above:
Pearson is asked about the play more than any of the 489 catches of his career. He still is surprised at how many don't know how the term came to fruition. Here's what he told the Times when he spoke to Illinois and Louisiana Tech before the Heart of Dallas Bowl in 2014:
"They were sitting there with their mouths open, surprised that that's how it began. They just thought it came out of the air somewhere."
You know, the way Franks' pass did on a beautiful ending Saturday for the Gators.
A Hail Mary for the ages.
Want more Hail Mary passes? The top 10 in NFL history from the NFL Network.
Yes, you read that correctly – Hail Mary squabbles. Oh, and #hashtags, too.
What a time to be alive.
If you stayed off social media after the Gators' pulsating win over Tennessee on Saturday, you probably have no clue what this is about.
Congratulations on spending your Sunday morning more wisely than I.
I hung out on Twitter as I often do to kick-start the morning and noticed several tweets directed my way about how Gators quarterback Feleipe Franks' 63-yard game-winning touchdown throw to receiver Tyrie Cleveland should not be described as a "Hail Mary."
The arguments essentially centered around the point made in this one:
Great story, but it wasn't a Hail Mary. Franks spotted a receiver and threw it to him. TD!
— Steve Ott (@SteveOtt3) September 17, 2017
If you follow me on Twitter, you know I tend to use it primarily as a Gators information-sharing tool and a light-hearted social platform for anything else. "I'm a man. I'm 40. I don't do Twitter arguments" is usually my general response when someone attacks with a keyboard. It's also my reasoning for not tweeting about my favorite cereal or who I think is the most important member of Guns N' Roses.
Too much noise in the system already.
So, I tossed a couple of soft jabs back at Hail Mary protestors and moved on, not giving it much more thought. And then I logged onto Twitter again last night and noticed more tweets saying "THAT WAS NOT A HAIL MARY!!!" Fortunately, my followers are generally civil folks, so no one threatened me with an ice pick or a free ticket to a Justin Bieber concert.
Heck, @FloridaGators even has a poll up today on Twitter for fans to vote, and surprisingly, those on my side of the fence are trailing. No worries fellow Hail Mary supporters. Plenty to time to catch up with a dose of truth and history.
Was the last play of #TENNvsUF a Hail Mary?
— Florida Gators (@FloridaGators) September 18, 2017
Obviously, some fans – my hypothesis is mostly younger arm-chair quarterbacks unfamiliar with the game's history – only consider a Hail Mary as a pass of last resort thrown deep and high into a group of players who jump and try to catch the ball. Let me see if I can find any support for this hypothesis. Wow, took only nine seconds:
A Hail Mary is when you send everyone deep and the QB just heaves it in the air for a jump ball. If you watch, it's clearly NOT a jump ball.
— Nick Kudyk (@nickkudyk) September 18, 2017
Sorry to pick on you Nick. Hey, totally understandable since those are the type of passes we see most often associated with the term "Hail Mary."
But let's dig just a little deeper and review the definition of the term on Dictionary.com.
It looks like I'm about 300 words into this blog and already pulled out the old dictionary-as-evidence tool we writers like to use once in a while to back us up. That's when I know it's time to wrap it up.
But wait, there's something better I discovered on the internet. It's out there for all to see. Do you know the original Hail Mary pass is actually young enough to have a home on YouTube? Seriously, check this out.
Also, check out this story by The Los Angeles Times in 2014 on the original Hail Mary pass and how it is part of the game's lore 40 years later.
I'm too young to remember watching it, but as a diehard fan of the Dallas Cowboys growing up, I recall countless connections between Roger Staubach and Drew Pearson at the end of the 1970s. The reason the term exists has to do more with Staubach than anyone else.
A paragraph from the origin of the Hail Mary in the LA Times' story linked above:
That was Pearson's game-winning, 50-yard touchdown catch from Roger Staubach with 24 seconds left in an NFC divisional playoff game at Minnesota's Metropolitan Stadium on Dec. 28, 1975. The quarterback later disclosed that he said a Hail Mary prayer after letting the ball fly, hence the term "Hail Mary" was introduced into the cultural lexicon.
Pearson is asked about the play more than any of the 489 catches of his career. He still is surprised at how many don't know how the term came to fruition. Here's what he told the Times when he spoke to Illinois and Louisiana Tech before the Heart of Dallas Bowl in 2014:
"They were sitting there with their mouths open, surprised that that's how it began. They just thought it came out of the air somewhere."
You know, the way Franks' pass did on a beautiful ending Saturday for the Gators.
A Hail Mary for the ages.
Want more Hail Mary passes? The top 10 in NFL history from the NFL Network.
Players Mentioned
WR
/ Football
QB
/ FootballFlorida Cross Country | NCAA South Regional Recap
Saturday, November 15
Florida Women's Basketball | Liv McGill FLEXES for the AND-1 💪
Saturday, November 15
Florida Cross Country | Kelvin Cheruiyot Takes Home NCAA South Regional Title 🥇
Saturday, November 15
Florida Volleyball | Gators Seal 4-Set THRILLER Over Ole Miss 🍿
Saturday, November 15
