This past weekend, Washington fans and indeed the entire NFL were treated to a “Game of the Ages,” a breathtaking, heart-pounding contest that will be etched in minds and memories for years to come as the Commanders overcame a late game deficit to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat on a Jayden Daniels’s “Hail Mary” pass to Noah Brown in the final seconds to ensure an 18-15 victory over “Da Bears.”
I have always liked the reference to the Hail Mary pass; that bold play as time winds down in a game that is often tied and always on the line. The pass is thrown in desperate situations, against extraordinary odds and towards a defense that expects it and that is stacked to prevent its completion. Football analysts say that Hail Marys are improbable and successful less than 10 percent of the time, with most intercepted or knocked down or dropped.
But we always remember those that were completed. The Roger Staubach pass against the Vikings in 1975 in the divisional playoffs. It was this pass that established the reference. When asked about the 50-yard pass he threw, Staubach, who described himself as just “a Catholic kid from Cincinnati” responded, “I just threw the ball, closed my eyes and said a few Hail Marys”….and the name and reference live on. We remember the exciting, iconic Doug Flutie pass to lead Boston College over Miami in 1984. And ironically, Bears quarterback Caleb Williams is best known locally for the Hail Mary pass he threw in his sophomore year at Gonzaga College High School to defeat DeMatha Catholic High School to secure the 2018 Washington Catholic Athletic Conference championship.
History repeated itself on Sunday in the worst way for Caleb Williams, now the Chicago Bears quarterback, but perhaps made many Commanders fans believers. So today, Commanders fans can continue to relish the moment, an epic victory, and a team that may not be spiritually favored, but is clearly living a charmed life.
While I’m not sure all the commentators who refer to a Hail Mary pass can recite the prayer whole and entire, I do think that for those who can, the reference is both familiar and comforting; a sort of Catholic cultural thing, like making the sign of the cross at the foul line (which, by the way, has never worked for me), that is a small and subtle nod to our reliance on faith, the power of prayer, and an acknowledgment that sometimes miracles do happen.
These essential characteristics and considerations are present in the mundane and everyday experiences of life, as well in those that are the most life-defining issues we face. To stretch that analogy a bit further but in a far more pressing and urgent way, I believe Washington Cardinal Wilton Gregory, in a recent Catholic Standard column, has given us a Hail Mary moment to consider as we head to the polls next week.
The situation is somewhat similar… We are in the final days of a contentious and competitive election period, polls suggest the presidential candidates are tied in a contest that is uniquely one with the highest stakes. We have grown all too weary of the polarization, the misinformation and disinformation, the deep fakes and the fake news and the toxic barrages the candidates have railed against one another.
The cardinal is calling us to a higher bar and a more thoughtful approach. He urges voters to pray, discern and decide as they approach this sacred and democratic responsibility, so that candidates for all offices are selected on the basis of character, competence and compassion and that we experience a peaceful transition of power. This will be my prayer and the direction of my Hail Marys for the next few weeks.
Hail Commanders, Hail Mary.
(Dan Kerns served as the Head of School at Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School in Washington for 33 years before retiring in 2019 and then serving as the executive director of the Father McKenna Center in the nation’s capital.)
Related links:
Cardinal Gregory’s column on “Approaching Election Day as citizens and people of faith”
https://www.cathstan.org/voices/approaching-election-day-as-citizens-and-people-of-faith
Cardinal Gregory interview: “Cardinal Gregory urges prayer and reflection before November elections”
https://www.cathstan.org/us-world/cardinal-gregory-urges-prayer-reflection-before-november-elections
