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Todd Archer
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Todd Archer
ESPN Staff Writer
- Todd Archer is an NFL reporter at ESPN and covers the Dallas Cowboys. Archer has covered the NFL since 1997 and Dallas since 2003. He joined ESPN in 2010.
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Kevin Seifert
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Kevin Seifert
ESPN Staff Writer
- Kevin Seifert is a staff writer who covers the Minnesota Vikings and the NFL at ESPN. Kevin has covered the NFL for over 20 years, joining ESPN in 2008. He was previously a beat reporter for the Minneapolis Star Tribune and Washington Times. He is a graduate of the University of Virginia.
Not long before kickoff between the Dallas Cowboys and the Washington Commanders on Oct. 19 at AT&T Stadium, Roger Staubach, now 83 years old and wearing his familiar No. 12 jersey, was twirling a football in his hands. Nearby was Drew Pearson.
«Roger gave me that nod, pointing like, ‘Go down [the field],'» said Pearson, now 74 years old and donning his No. 88. «I said, ‘OK, but not too far now.'»
Staubach floated a few passes to Pearson as memories flowed back. On that day in Arlington, Texas, the Cowboys were celebrating their alumni with the quarterback and the wide receiver, both Hall of Famers, among the former players on hand — and the Cowboys had a surprise for them.
Team owner and general manager Jerry Jones and chief brand officer Charlotte Jones presented footballs commemorating the 50th anniversary of the most memorable play in Cowboys history: the «Hail Mary.»
Minnesota Vikings 17-14 in a divisional round playoff game.
Staubach birthed the now iconic phrase with his postgame comment:
«I closed my eyes and said a Hail Mary.»
At The Star, where the Cowboys practice, the Ring of Honor statues of Staubach and Pearson are exactly 50 yards apart, with each player’s cleats marked in cement. Inside The Star, there is a three-story-long stairwell with a frame-by-frame photo display of the play — from Staubach taking the snap to Pearson crossing into the end zone. Thirty-six photos in all.
Some 471 miles away in Minneapolis, however, the Hail Mary is remembered for far different reasons.
Vikings players of that era remain embittered that «Push Pearson,» as he is known in Minnesota, was not called for offensive pass interference after cornerback Nate Wright was left sprawled on the ground as Pearson made the catch. Wright, 77, said that it was «devastating because that’s all I’m remembered for.»
«All the plays I had, all the honors I’ve received have almost been whitewashed,» Wright, a two-time All-Pro, said.
Hall of Fame safety Paul Krause, who was feet away as Pearson made the catch, said: «I’m sick about it. Sick. To this day.»
As 5-8 Minnesota prepares to visit the 6-6-1 Cowboys on Sunday (8:20 p.m. ET, NBC), neither former Viking has found comfort in Staubach’s prayer.
«God didn’t have anything to do with it,» Krause said, «because they just pushed off and they won the game.»
As Wright said, «God? His concern is not about who wins a football game. His concern is about saving souls.»
But the Hail Mary wouldn’t have been possible at all if it wasn’t for another controversial play seconds earlier.
What follows is a look back in time at that play, the Hail Mary and the lingering aftermath of one of the NFL’s iconic moments.
Tulsa in 1973. The quarterback was already a Super Bowl winner, a Heisman Trophy winner, a Vietnam veteran and nicknamed «Captain America.»
«In many ways, he was the first who taught me to be professional, how to carry myself,» Pearson said. «Not just being a great player, but how to approach the game, being accountable for what you were responsible for. Just the way he carried himself. I mean, he’s Roger Staubach. My mom even knows who that was.»
In 1984, Pearson was in a car accident in which his brother, Carey Mark Pearson, died. Drew also was injured and required treatment in intensive care. As Pearson’s parents dealt with the devastation of losing a son, Staubach was at the hospital for his teammate, as were Martin and Landry.
«Roger’s always been there for me,» Pearson said.
Unable to continue playing, Pearson spent a year as a Cowboys assistant coach before going into business. He started Drew Pearson Marketing with some partners and got into headwear. He had deals with all of the major American professional sports leagues.
Staubach was Pearson’s initial investor, lending him $25,000.
«We turned that around, and I went to pay him back, and he didn’t want it,» Pearson said. «He said, ‘Let it ride.’ I still owe him. That’s the kind of influence he’s had on people and he had on me.»
Dak Prescott was talking with Staubach a few years ago when the Hall of Famer mentioned the Hail Mary.
«Roger said he’s the creator of the Hail Mary,» Dallas’ current star quarterback said. «He said obviously they’ve given it to Aaron Rodgers now, who’s completed more of them, but he’s the first. And the real reason it’s the Hail Mary is because he said a few Hail Marys when he broke the huddle before he threw the ball deep, threw it up, and Drew came down with it.»
If not for the discussion with Staubach or the series of still frames that run down the stairwell leading to the Cowboys’ front office, Prescott said he wouldn’t know about it.
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Like Prescott, wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, the current holder of the Cowboys’ No. 88 jersey, has talked with Pearson.
«He called it his favorite play. Obviously as a receiver, everybody’s [favorite] play is the Hail Mary,» Lamb said. «You just run deep and catch the ball. As for him, he says he got the matchup that he wanted and [he] turned and saw the ball, and all he saw was like hands in his face and the ball just literally fell into his lap. That’s a great ball by Roger, by the way.
«But as for Drew, man, it’s resilience. It’s that tenacity, that adversity to overcome, the will to win. And I feel like we all got that in common. I’ve learned a lot from him.»
Lamb said he caught a Hail Mary in high school on back-to-back plays.
«I caught one one-handed; got called back. Caught it again. Game over,» Lamb said. «[That’s] high school, but that’s not the league.»
The play has evolved from hope and a prayer to a scripted plan.
«We don’t call it Hail Mary, but we’ve got like four different versions of a Hail Mary,» Prescott said. «It’s a real thing that actually takes like true detail and focus to get to where your spots are. Now, essentially you’re throwing to this area, but there’s a front-tip guy, a back-tip guy, a side-tip guy. Those guys aren’t even supposed to jump. Just one jumper is supposed to go up, and depending on what it is, there’s a back guy if it all goes over everybody’s head.
«When you get in those situations, you’re just trying to, as a quarterback, put enough air on it where you do get a tip and it goes one way or another.»
Did Pearson push off?
«They don’t call flags down there at the end,» Prescott said. «Look at it, half the time now defensive guys just tackle receivers, and they don’t call flags. It’s Hail Mary for a reason.»
