Hail Mary
In the fall of 1962, my father drove my mother to Annapolis see his alma mater Cornell play Navy in football.
My dad’s a sports fan and I’ve been asking him about famous games he attended and this one turned out to be one of the most memorable.
He said there wasn’t much to see in the beginning. The game was scoreless into the second quarter, and Navy’s offense was stuck.
Then the coach pulled a sophomore off the bench and put him in as quarterback.
The rookie started throwing and running and Navy started to rack up points. In the second half, it turned into a rout and the midshipmen won 47–0.
The quarterback led the team to six touchdowns, passing for 99 years and rushing for 88.
“That kid played a terrific game,” Dad said.
That kid’s name was Roger Staubach and that game is widely regarded as his breakout moment.
Staubach went on to win the Heisman Trophy the next year – a rarity for a junior – and later led the Dallas Cowboys to five Super Bowls, winning two, on his way to the Hall of Fame.
I remember Staubach from watching the Cowboys when I was a kid but Wikipedia filled in some gaps about the man that made him a lot more interesting to me now.
–After graduating, he served his four-year military commitment
–He volunteered to serve one of those years in Vietnam
–He entered the NFL playing as a 27-year-old rookie
–His entire 11-year career was with the Cowboys
Staubach was also an early role model for athletes making a transition to business after playing.
While he was still quarterback, he started a commercial real estate firm and built it into a powerhouse, eventually selling it for more than $600 million.
That was far more than the $2 million or so that he earned playing football.
He also popularized the term “Hail Mary” after he threw a 50-yard pass to in the closing seconds of the 1975 divisional playoffs to help the Cowboys beat the Minnesota Vikings.
Staubach was later quoted saying: “I just closed my eyes and said a Hail Mary.”
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