Hail Mary Pass - 12/28/75

[cajuncocoa]

Let's take a time-out from all the doom and gloom of speculating on tomorrow's game to remember one of the best moments in Dallas Cowboys history, 38 years ago today:

 

[bark]

Let's take a time-out from all the doom and gloom of speculating on tomorrow's game to remember one of the best moments in Dallas Cowboys history, 38 years ago today:

Remember it like it was yesterday Cajun ...thanks for the memory... Vikes fans still talk about the " push off ".... Not saying he did / not saying he didn't ... Great memory

 

[Sarge]

Amen.

 

[TTexasTT]

Wow, Pearson looks so small compared to guys today.

 

[Roadtrip635]

I remember watching it with my family and how the whole room erupted when he made that catch! It was a great time to be a Cowboy fan.

 

[cml750]

That play is a fond memory from my childhood. My family went crazy!!!!!

 

[jazzcat22]

Remember it like it was yesterday Cajun ...thanks for the memory... Vikes fans still talk about the " push off ".... Not saying he did / not saying he didn't ... Great memory

I'll say it...he did not push off!!!

 

[TwoCentPlain]

I was a Viking fan at that time and I remember that play as if it happened yesterday. I was 11 years old and was so upset. I just went outside and played with a football by myself to take my mind off of it. I couldn't believe what I had just seen.

I didn't become a Cowboy fan until Tony Dorsett became a Cowboy two years later.

 

[jazzcat22]

I was a Viking fan at that time and I remember that play as if it happened yesterday. I was 11 years old and was so upset. I just went outside and played with a football by myself to take my mind off of it. I couldn't believe what I had just seen.

I didn't become a Cowboy fan until Tony Dorsett became a Cowboy two years later.

That pass sublimely had much more to do with it....

 

[TwoCentPlain]

That pass sublimely had much more to do with it....

You may be right. I started to have a feeling of 'if you can't beat them, join them.' Tony Dorsett was maybe the final piece.

 

[Roadtrip635]

I was a Viking fan at that time and I remember that play as if it happened yesterday. I was 11 years old and was so upset. I just went outside and played with a football by myself to take my mind off of it. I couldn't believe what I had just seen.

I didn't become a Cowboy fan until Tony Dorsett became a Cowboy two years later.

I liked the Vikes, they had a good team, especially their defensive line. Bud Grant was a great coach, I always felt bad for him not being able to win a SB.

 

[jazzcat22]

You may be right. I started to have a feeling of 'if you can't beat them, join them.' Tony Dorsett was maybe the final piece.

I was opposite on this when I became a Cowboys fan.
Eight years old, was really just getting into football, three older brothers. Ice Bowl, I remember watching it, all my brothers kept going on about after the game was Bart Starr and the Packers. Even though none of them were Packer fans, nor Cowboys fans. Was just watching the game, no one was rooting for one team or the other.

Not sure what it was, but mostly the helmet I liked better that the puke green & yellow of the Packers [how did I know this, we had a b&w tv LOL, I think, maybe it was color, can't remember]. But I think it was more so, my brothers kept on about the Packers, and I felt somewhat sorry that Dallas didn't win. I told them, the Packers will be has beens and the Cowboys are the team of the future. Not knowing exactly what I was saying, but it came to be true throughout the 70's.

 

[dupree89]

Nate Wright was the one that pushed off.

I remember it well. I was 11 yrs old. Toward the end of the game, I switched over to catch the start of the Raiders game as I was upset. Then, a few moments later I switched back and I see on the screen
Dallas 17 Minnesota 14. I couldnt believe it. Then, the next week we blew out the Los Angeles Rams.
And then....and then..... along came the Steelers.

 

[mrmojo]

10 years old when this happened and my family went crazy, scared the heck out of my grandma LOL Remember my cousin adjusting the antenna for reception before the game and luckily the day wasnt windy so the reception was good the entire game. Probably the first Back Shoulder pass and catch ever....one of many clutch catches by Drew, who should be in the HOF.

 

[Fritsch_the_cat]

Vikes fans still talk about the " push off ".... Not saying he did / not saying he didn't ...

An orange or something or other thrown from the stands came bouncing through right after the catch, you can see Drew look at it. I though for certain it was a penalty flag when I first saw it.

 

[dupree89]

An orange or something or other thrown from the stands came bouncing through right after the catch, you can see Drew look at it. I though for certain it was a penalty flag when I first saw it.

An official was hit with a whiskey bottle after that play. Not sure if thats what you saw or not.

 

[Fritsch_the_cat]

An official was hit with a whiskey bottle after that play. Not sure if thats what you saw or not.

No, no, if you watch a good replay you'll see it. It's either an orange or an orange ball. You can see it in the OP photo just below the defender's knee. It's what Drew looks back at, he himself said he thought it was a flag.

 

[dupree89]

An orange or something or other thrown from the stands came bouncing through right after the catch, you can see Drew look at it. I though for certain it was a penalty flag when I first saw it.

good catch...this from Wiki. The whiskey bottle came a few moments later.

As Pearson strode into the end zone for the score, free safety Paul Krause complained to field judge Armen Terzian ] that an interference penalty on Pearson should have been called. An orange thrown by a spectator in the stands, whizzed by Pearson at the goal line. The orange is visible on NFL Films footage of the play and was initially confused by some as a penalty flag and was also misinterpreted by the Vikings defense as a penalty. More debris was thrown from the stands by angry Vikings fans, enraged that no penalty was called on Dallas.
]Defensive tackle Alan Page argued with officials and was assessed a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the ensuing kickoff. On Minnesota's next possession with 14 seconds left to play, a Corby's whiskey bottle was thrown by a spectator, striking referee Armen Terzian in the head at Minnesota's own 10-yard line, creating a large forehead gash and rendering him unconscious.Terzian had to wear a bandage, later requiring 11 stitches, as he walked off the field and was replaced by substitute official Charley Musserfor the final two plays.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hail_Mary_pass

 

[jazzcat22]

An official was hit with a whiskey bottle after that play. Not sure if thats what you saw or not.

The play was so outstanding, a fan took notice and stopped drinking...or did it make them down the bottle and toss it in disbelief...

 

[Fritsch_the_cat]

good catch...this from Wiki. The whiskey bottle came a few moments later.

Oh, yeah, I was watching when it happened, so I knew the whiskey bottle came later because I remember the official getting clocked with it. Here's a litt;e better quality video, if you watch close, you'll see the orange come flying through right after the catch. You'll also see my screen-namesake congratulating Drew after the play.




It was a rough crowd that day. A little earlier, Drew had caught a pass and went out of bounds, some security guy working for the Vikings kicked him in the leg as he was returning to the field.

That's one of the most important plays in football. It's where "Hail Mary" comes from, Roger said he closed his eyes and threw a Hail Mary, and it also changed the way defense was played late in a game.

Drew Pearson was the *****' man! Give me a team of Drew Pearsons and I'll beat the world.