CrazyCowboy
12-29-2005, 06:19 AM
It's about time to hail a Hall of Famer's career
By RAY BUCK
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
Drew Pearson cleared his appointment book Wednesday to observe the 30th anniversary of the "Hail Mary" pass from Roger Staubach that beat the Minnesota Vikings in the 1975 playoffs.
The memory never gets a chance to fade.
He's asked about it all the time.
"Not every day," said Pearson, "but certainly every week."
The 50-yard play, now 30 years old, is a defining moment in the annals of Cowboys history and an important piece of NFL lore.
Staubach dubbed it. Pearson caught it.
So, remind me again ... why isn't Pearson in the Cowboys' Ring of Honor?
Or the Pro Football Hall of Fame, for that matter?
Pearson, of course, didn't make his mark in one day. But for that one day -- Dec. 28, 1975 -- what a mark he made.
The term "Hail Mary" found its way into the football vernacular shortly after the game, in postgame interviews, when Staubach borrowed from his Catholic upbringing to describe what it took to win 17-14 on a desperation heave to his favorite receiver, with no timeouts and 24 seconds left.
"In the huddle, Roger told me to run the same 'turn-in, take-off' route that I ran to beat the Redskins on [1974] Thanksgiving Day," Pearson said. "And he told me to run it on Nate Wright."
Staubach's pass was underthrown. Pearson, fighting for inside position on Wright, thought he had it, then thought he dropped it.
He used his "elbow and hip" to corral the ball, then backed into the end zone. Touchdown.
"What keeps this play alive, I guess, is whether I pushed off or not," Pearson said. "My answer is the same now as always -- no. There was some jostling, like two rebounders going for a rebound, but no deliberate contact."
Just to get into position to win, the Cowboys needed several things to go their way. It took nine plays to come off their own 15-yard line and just set up the "Hail Mary."
They caught a break two plays earlier -- third-and-18 from the Dallas 28 -- when Pearson beat Wright to the ball for a 22-yard pass completion.
"I caught it going out of bounds," Pearson said. "If Nate lets me go, I probably don't get my feet inbounds. But he hit me, and it was ruled a forceout."
Fatigued and cold, Pearson came back to the huddle and told Staubach: "I can hardly breathe."
So, Staubach threw a swing pass to running back Preston Pearson, who promptly dropped the ball.
"Preston never dropped anything," Pearson said. "So, I like to give him credit for doing it on purpose because he was a smart player. Anyway, that was a miracle."
The swing pass would have gained 10-20 yards and given the Purple People Eaters ample opportunity to linger on the pile after the tackle and perhaps run out the clock.
Instead, the clock was stopped.
Staubach, now in shotgun formation, took a second-and-10 snap from University of Oklahoma rookie Kyle Davis, who had replaced regular center John Fitzgerald late in the game because of a hand injury.
Staubach had instructed Golden Richards to clear out safety Paul Krause by running a "good post" to the other side of Pearson.
After one pump fake to Richards, Staubach spun to his right, then threw deep and went down in a heap, all in one motion.
Staubach never saw the catch.
"The Vikings didn't play a prevent defense back then, which was another blessing," Pearson said. "That's why Nate was sticking with me. I really didn't beat him -- we were pretty even -- but I thought I had another gear, if Roger could get the ball out there."
Instead, he had to come back to the ball. And while backing into the end zone, Pearson saw something out of the corner of his eye -- a penalty flag?
"It turned out to be an orange thrown from the stands," Pearson said.
On the same play, an official was knocked cold by a whiskey bottle that flew out of the same Metropolitan Stadium seats.
In a memorable day of bizarre happenings, Vikings quarterback Fran Tarkenton learned after the game that his father died while watching it on TV.
The NFL should promote a former player like Pearson, an undrafted free agent from Tulsa, who played 11 seasons for Tom Landry. His 489 receptions and 7,822 yards rank second and third, respectively, in team history.
He was good enough to be named to the NFL's All-Decade Team for the 1970s (along with Lynn Swann) and careful enough to stay involved in the game. He now does weekly Cowboys commentary on KXAS/Channel 5.
Pearson has been told many times that his big-play career is worthy of both Canton, Ohio, and the Ring of Honor.
"It's really not that I'm vain," Pearson said. "It's that I don't know why [neither has happened], and that's what bothers me."
But even when he is on the outside looking in, we can't seem to forget him.
Nor should we.
By RAY BUCK
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
Drew Pearson cleared his appointment book Wednesday to observe the 30th anniversary of the "Hail Mary" pass from Roger Staubach that beat the Minnesota Vikings in the 1975 playoffs.
The memory never gets a chance to fade.
He's asked about it all the time.
"Not every day," said Pearson, "but certainly every week."
The 50-yard play, now 30 years old, is a defining moment in the annals of Cowboys history and an important piece of NFL lore.
Staubach dubbed it. Pearson caught it.
So, remind me again ... why isn't Pearson in the Cowboys' Ring of Honor?
Or the Pro Football Hall of Fame, for that matter?
Pearson, of course, didn't make his mark in one day. But for that one day -- Dec. 28, 1975 -- what a mark he made.
The term "Hail Mary" found its way into the football vernacular shortly after the game, in postgame interviews, when Staubach borrowed from his Catholic upbringing to describe what it took to win 17-14 on a desperation heave to his favorite receiver, with no timeouts and 24 seconds left.
"In the huddle, Roger told me to run the same 'turn-in, take-off' route that I ran to beat the Redskins on [1974] Thanksgiving Day," Pearson said. "And he told me to run it on Nate Wright."
Staubach's pass was underthrown. Pearson, fighting for inside position on Wright, thought he had it, then thought he dropped it.
He used his "elbow and hip" to corral the ball, then backed into the end zone. Touchdown.
"What keeps this play alive, I guess, is whether I pushed off or not," Pearson said. "My answer is the same now as always -- no. There was some jostling, like two rebounders going for a rebound, but no deliberate contact."
Just to get into position to win, the Cowboys needed several things to go their way. It took nine plays to come off their own 15-yard line and just set up the "Hail Mary."
They caught a break two plays earlier -- third-and-18 from the Dallas 28 -- when Pearson beat Wright to the ball for a 22-yard pass completion.
"I caught it going out of bounds," Pearson said. "If Nate lets me go, I probably don't get my feet inbounds. But he hit me, and it was ruled a forceout."
Fatigued and cold, Pearson came back to the huddle and told Staubach: "I can hardly breathe."
So, Staubach threw a swing pass to running back Preston Pearson, who promptly dropped the ball.
"Preston never dropped anything," Pearson said. "So, I like to give him credit for doing it on purpose because he was a smart player. Anyway, that was a miracle."
The swing pass would have gained 10-20 yards and given the Purple People Eaters ample opportunity to linger on the pile after the tackle and perhaps run out the clock.
Instead, the clock was stopped.
Staubach, now in shotgun formation, took a second-and-10 snap from University of Oklahoma rookie Kyle Davis, who had replaced regular center John Fitzgerald late in the game because of a hand injury.
Staubach had instructed Golden Richards to clear out safety Paul Krause by running a "good post" to the other side of Pearson.
After one pump fake to Richards, Staubach spun to his right, then threw deep and went down in a heap, all in one motion.
Staubach never saw the catch.
"The Vikings didn't play a prevent defense back then, which was another blessing," Pearson said. "That's why Nate was sticking with me. I really didn't beat him -- we were pretty even -- but I thought I had another gear, if Roger could get the ball out there."
Instead, he had to come back to the ball. And while backing into the end zone, Pearson saw something out of the corner of his eye -- a penalty flag?
"It turned out to be an orange thrown from the stands," Pearson said.
On the same play, an official was knocked cold by a whiskey bottle that flew out of the same Metropolitan Stadium seats.
In a memorable day of bizarre happenings, Vikings quarterback Fran Tarkenton learned after the game that his father died while watching it on TV.
The NFL should promote a former player like Pearson, an undrafted free agent from Tulsa, who played 11 seasons for Tom Landry. His 489 receptions and 7,822 yards rank second and third, respectively, in team history.
He was good enough to be named to the NFL's All-Decade Team for the 1970s (along with Lynn Swann) and careful enough to stay involved in the game. He now does weekly Cowboys commentary on KXAS/Channel 5.
Pearson has been told many times that his big-play career is worthy of both Canton, Ohio, and the Ring of Honor.
"It's really not that I'm vain," Pearson said. "It's that I don't know why [neither has happened], and that's what bothers me."
But even when he is on the outside looking in, we can't seem to forget him.
Nor should we.