List of Hail Marys in American football

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Here is a list, ordered by year, of successfully completed Hail Mary plays from collegiate and professional football in the United States.

[edit] College football

1980 Holiday Bowl — Brigham Young vs. Southern Methodist: BYU quarterback Jim McMahon completed a 41-yard Hail Mary to Clay Brown on the game's final play for a 46-45 win. The game is known as the "Miracle Bowl" because of the Cougars stunning comeback capped with an incredible game-winning-play when SMU had a 45-25 lead with only four minutes left in the game.
1984 — Boston College vs. Miami: BC quarterback Doug Flutie threw a 48-yard Hail Mary to Gerard Phelan for the victory. The play is known as "Hail Flutie".
1986 - UCLA vs. USC: UCLA quarterback Matt Stevens faked a quarter-ending kneel and threw a Hail Mary pass, which was tipped into the hands of flanker Karl Dorrell to put UCLA up 31-0 over USC at the half. The Los Angeles Times labeled this, "Hail Mary, and in your face."
1994 — Colorado vs. Michigan: Colorado quarterback Kordell Stewart threw a 64-yard touchdown pass to Michael Westbrook on the last play of the game, known as “The Miracle at Michigan”.
2000 — Northwestern vs. Minnesota: Northwestern quarterback Zak Kustok completed a 45-yard Hail Mary to wide receiver Sam Simmons. The touchdown gave Northwestern a 41-35 victory as the Wildcats rallied from a 35-14 deficit. The play (a vollyball-style tip to the trailing wide reciever) was named "Victory Right."
2002 — LSU vs. Kentucky: This game ended in a 75-yard Hail Mary pass thrown by LSU's Marcus Randall to Devery Henderson that occurred while Kentucky fans prematurely rushed onto the field and even started tearing down the goal posts in the opposite end zone. LSU won the game 33-30. The play is known as the “Bluegrass Miracle”.^[1]
2003 — Tennessee vs. Florida: Tennessee quarterback Casey Clausen threw a 48-yard touchdown pass to James Banks on the final play of the first half. The play gave Tennessee a 7-3 lead and they went on to win 24-10.^[2]
2005 — Washington vs. Arizona: During the closing seconds of the first half, Washington quarterback Isaiah Stanback heaved a pass 69 yards to Craig Chambers to tie the game at 14. Washington would eventually win 38-14.^[3]
2005 Capital One Bowl — Iowa vs. LSU: With 14 seconds left, Iowa quarterback Drew Tate completed a 56-yard touchdown pass to Warren Halloway to give Iowa a 30-25 victory on the game's final play.^[4]
2006 — NC State vs. Boston College: A 34-yard Hail Mary from NC State quarterback Daniel Evans to wideout John Dunlap with 8 seconds left gave NC State a 17-15 victory.^[5]
2006 — Arkansas State vs. Memphis: A 53-yard Hail Mary from quarterback Corey Leonard to wide receiver Patrick Higgins with 6 seconds left gave ASU a 26-23 victory.^[6]
2006 — Washington vs. Cal: In his third career start, quarterback Carl Bonnell threw a 40-yard Hail Mary that was tipped by three Cal defenders at the goal line and caught by Marlon Wood at the two yard line with no time left. He dove into the endzone to tie the game at 24-24. Cal would win in overtime.^[7]

[edit] Professional football

1975 NFC Divisional Playoffs — Dallas Cowboys vs. Minnesota Vikings: Dallas quarterback Roger Staubach's post-game comments about the play are thought to have popularized “Hail Mary” as a football term.
1978 — Atlanta Falcons vs. New Orleans Saints: The Falcons beat the Saints 20-17 on a "Hail Mary" pass from Steve Bartkowski to Alfred Jenkins. The play was known as "Big Ben." Later in the season, the Falcons beat the Saints again on the final play of the game after a failed "Hail Mary" pass when the Saints were called for pass interference. The Falcons scored on a run from the one-yard-line on the next play. The play became known as "Big Ben II." The second game was one of the few times (if not the only time) that officials called defensive pass interference on the play, even though it could be argued that pass interference occurs often on "Hail Mary" passes.
1980 — Minnesota Vikings vs. Cleveland Browns: Minnesota quarterback Tommy Kramer's Hail Mary pass to Ahmad Rashad as time expired completed a 28-23 victory for the Vikings. This pass is also known as the “Miracle Catch.” Kramer passed for 456 yards in the game. As a result of the victory, the Vikings qualified for the playoffs.
1991- Dallas Cowboys vs. Washington Redskins: The Dallas Cowboys were playing the then undefeated Washington Redskins in 1991. With the Cowboys leading 10-7 in second quarter with time running out and a 4th down from Redskin 34 yard line, the Cowboys decided to go for it. Then Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman threw the Hailmary in the right corner of the endzone where Alvin Harper cleanly caught the ball for a touchdown putting the Cowboys up 17-7. The Cowboys would end up winning 24-21 and ending Washington's 11-game winning streak[1] Washington would end up winning the Super Bowl that year.

1999 — Cleveland Browns vs. New Orleans Saints: On Halloween, the Browns won their first game since coming back to the NFL against New Orleans as Tim Couch completes a 56 yard "Hail Mary" pass to Kevin Johnson as time expired for the stunning 21-16 victory.
2001 — Chicago Bears vs. Cleveland Browns: Chicago tied the game on a 34 yard deflected "Hail Mary" from Shane Matthews to running back James Allen. The play capped off a 14 point comeback in the final 28 seconds of a game Chicago won in overtime, 27-21, on an interception return by Mike Brown.
2002 — Cleveland Browns vs. Jacksonville Jaguars: Cleveland won on a 50 yard "Hail Mary" pass from Tim Couch to Quincy Morgan against Jacksonville for a 21-20 shocker.^[8]
2006 — New Orleans Saints vs. Atlanta Falcons: Saints quarterback Drew Brees threw a 48-yard toss-up to Terrance Copper who made a spectacular catch in the end zone at the end of the first half to raise their lead, 21-6. The Saints went on to win 31-13.^[9]