Cal Sports Report

Hail Mary! Hail Aaron Rodgers!

For the fourth time former Cal quarterback Rodgers hits a Hail Mary pass, this time at the end of the first half Monday
Jake Curtis|
Aaron Rodgers
Aaron Rodgers | Chris Pedota, NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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California Golden Bears

Former Cal quarterback Aaron Rodgers may be 40 years old, and he may not be the same quarterback he was while winning four MVP awards.  But he showed at the end of the first half of Monday night’s game against the Buffalo Bills that he is still the king of the Hail Mary pass.

He converted a successful Hail Mary pass for the fourth time in his career to give the Jets a big lift at halftime.

The Jets trailed 20-10 with eight seconds left in the second quarter when Rodgers took the snap from the Jets’ 48-yard line.  He wandered around in the pocket to allow his receivers to get to the end zone.  Rodgers then launched the pass high into the air, landing it in the end zone and into the hands of Jets receiver Allen Lazard, who pulled it down amid Buffalo defenders for a touchdown that reduced the Bills’ halftime lead to 20-17.

The Jets ended up losing the game 23-20 as Rodgers took a beating, but this play to end the half will not be forgotten.

Or from this angle:

This was no fluke.

Here is a twitter video of the three previous times Rodgers converted a Hail Mary pass at the end of a game or half.  The most famous, of course, was his Hail Mary that beat the Lions while Rodgers was with the Packers

You may say that his success is a matter of luck, but consider that he launches a 50-yard-plus pass way up in the air, allowing receivers to maneuver into position.  Yet with all that loft and distance of the pass he is able to land it within that 10-yard space in the end zone.  It’s not easy, which is why no other quarterback has been as successful with the Hail Mary as Rodgers.

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Jake Curtis
JAKE CURTIS

Jake Curtis worked in the San Francisco Chronicle sports department for 27 years, covering virtually every sport, including numerous Final Fours, several college football national championship games, an NBA Finals, world championship boxing matches and a World Cup. He was a Cal beat writer for many of those years, and won awards for his feature stories.

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