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.»
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.»
Tomado de https://www.espn.com/
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