Fail Mary

The Fail Mary, sometimes known as the Inaccurate Reception or the Intertouchdownception, was the final play of an American football game between the Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL) that occurred on September 24, 2012, at CenturyLink Field in Seattle, Washington. In a nationally televised game on ESPN's ''Monday Night Football'', the Seahawks defeated the Packers, 14–12, in controversial fashion.

On the final play of the tightly contested game, Seattle rookie quarterback Russell Wilson threw a Hail Mary pass into the end zone intended for wide receiver Golden Tate. Both Tate and Packers defender M. D. Jennings got their hands on the ball while both players were still in the air and attempting to gain possession. The two officials near the play initially gave separate signals of touchdown and touchback, before ruling the players had simultaneous possession, resulting in a Seahawks game-winning touchdown. Prior to the catch, Tate shoved Packers cornerback Sam Shields with both hands, which the NFL later acknowledged should have drawn an offensive pass interference penalty that would have negated the touchdown and resulted in a Packers victory. The lack of a pass interference penalty and the ruling of a touchdown via simultaneous catch were widely questioned in the aftermath of the game, drawing comments from the game's announcers, NFL players, and the media. The NFL subsequently released a statement defending the touchdown ruling, while admitting that offensive pass interference did occur, which would have resulted in a Packers win.

The controversial ending followed weeks of criticism regarding the quality of officiating by replacement officials employed by the NFL during the 2012 NFL referee lockout. Two days after the game, the NFL and the NFL Referees Association announced that they had reached an agreement to end the lockout. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell acknowledged that the negative attention the game drew to the referee situation was an impetus for ending the labor dispute.

Events of the play

Prior to the play, the Packers were leading the Seahawks 12–7. With eight seconds left in the fourth quarter, the Seahawks had possession of the ball at the Packers' 24-yard line with a fourth down-and-10 situation. On the final play of the game, Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson threw a Hail Mary pass into the Packers end zone. Several Packers and Seahawks leaped to catch the ball. While in the air, Packers safety M. D. Jennings had two hands on the ball and Seahawks wide receiver Golden Tate had one hand on the ball. Jennings visibly controlled the ball, with both arms wrapped around it, upon landing on the ground. Tate, laying beneath Jennings, still had a hand on the ball, with his arms wrapped around Jennings.

The two officials near the play conferred and then simultaneously made separate signals; side judge Lance Easley raised his arms to signal touchdown, while back judge Derrick Rhone-Dunn waved his arms to signal stoppage of the clock. Because Rhone-Dunn signaled timeout so as to stop the already expired game clock, Rhone-Dunn indicated that he desired further investigation of the play before rendering a verdict whereas Easley, from his angle, found sufficient evidence of a simultaneous catch with which to call a touchdown. The ruling on the field was officially a touchdown, with Tate and Jennings maintaining simultaneous possession.

Replay official Howard Slavin initiated a video review, as is required of all scoring plays. According to an NFL press release after the game, "The aspects of the play that were reviewable included if the ball hit the ground and who had possession of the ball. In the end zone, a ruling of a simultaneous catch is reviewable." Referee Wayne Elliott determined that there was not adequate evidence to overturn the call, so the ruling stood as a touchdown.

As the teams and sports media swarmed the field, the Packers left the field and reported to their locker room, but were required by officials to return to the field for the then-mandatory conversion attempt per NFL rules despite it not changing the result (the rule was later phased out, though in this situation, under the revised rules, the try would still have to be attempted, as the Packers would have been able to return it for 2 and won the game).

Controversy

The lack of a pass interference penalty and the ruling of a touchdown via simultaneous possession became the source of immediate controversy. During the ''SportsCenter'' broadcast, Gruden expressed disbelief over the calls: "Golden Tate gets away with one of the most blatant offensive pass interference calls I've ever seen. M.D. Jennings intercepts the pass. And Tate's walking out of here as the player of the game. Unbelievable." ESPN's Kevin Seifert wrote, "In all, it was one of the most disorganized and embarrassing scenes you'll ever see on an NFL field. At least, so far." The winning catch was subsequently referred to in the media by nicknames such as ''Fail Mary'''', Inaccurate Reception'', and ''Intertouchdownception'', (respectively referencing the Hail Mary pass, Immaculate Reception, and a portmanteau

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