Gerard P. Phelan (born January 20, 1963) is a former

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

player who was a

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

for the

Boston College Eagles The Boston College Eagles are the athletic teams that represent Boston College, located in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level ( Football Bowl Subdivis ...

. He earned second-team

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

honors in 1984.

Career

Early life

Phelan played high school football for

Archbishop John Carroll High School Archbishop John Carroll High School is a four-year secondary school part of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia, located in Radnor, Pennsylvania, on a 55-acre campus. The school currently enrolls approximately 685 students (2024). Hi ...

Radnor, Pennsylvania Radnor is a community which straddles Montgomery and Delaware Counties, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located approximately 13 miles west of Philadelphia, in the Main Line suburbs. The community was named after Radnor, in Wales. Radnor i ...

and graduated in 1981.

College football

Phelan continued his football career at

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

, where he played from 1981 to 1984 as a

. Phelan is remembered for his game-winning catch in the " Hail Flutie" game on November 23, 1984, which pitted the

against the University of Miami Hurricanes in the

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. Played annually since 1935 Orange Bowl, January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in ...

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

. The game is typically ranked among the greatest of all

games, where Phelan caught eleven of

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

Doug Flutie's forty-six pass attempts for a total of 226 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Phelan caught the 48-yard game-winning

Hail Mary The Hail Mary or Ave Maria (from its first words in Latin), also known as the Angelic or Angelical Salutation, is a traditional Catholic prayer addressing Mary, the mother of Jesus. The prayer is based on two biblical passages featured in the ...

touchdown that cemented a place for him in Boston College lore. With possession on Miami's 48-yard line, the Eagles trailed the Hurricanes 45–41 with just six seconds left. A desperation play known as "55 Flood Tip" was signaled, which called for the receivers to run toward the

end zone The end zone is the scoring area on the field, according to gridiron-based codes of football. It is the area between the end line and goal line bounded by the sidelines. There are two end zones, each being on the opposite side of the field ...

and attempt to tip a jump ball to an open receiver. Miami's

defensive backs In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

stopped before the goal line, most likely because they did not believe Flutie could throw the ball farther than that, which allowed Phelan to get behind them. As the game clock expired, Flutie eluded a Miami pass rusher, scrambled to his right to his own 37-yard line, and launched the ball. It traveled an impressive 63 yards, over the Miami defenders, and into the arms of an untouched Phelan in the end zone. The catch gave Boston College a 47–45 victory. To this day, it is considered one of the greatest offensive plays in college football history.

Professional career

Phelan was selected by the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

in the fourth round (108th overall pick) in the

1985 NFL draft The 1985 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. The NFL draft, draft was held April 30 and May 1, 1985 NFL season, 1985, at the Omni Park Central Hotel in New York City, New ...

. A knee injury prematurely cut short his professional career.

Personal life

A graduate of the Boston College class of 1985, Phelan currently works in Boston for RR Donnelley as Senior Vice President. He is the cousin of professional soccer player Pat Phelan. He currently resides in Walpole, Massachusetts. In his former community of Milford, he has a reputation of being a jovial host.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Phelan, Gerard 1963 births Living people American football wide receivers Boston College Eagles football players New England Patriots players Businesspeople from Massachusetts Players of American football from Delaware County, Pennsylvania Archbishop John Carroll High School alumni