Q: Betty Cantrell, the new Miss America, is from Warner Robins. I think several other Miss Georgia winners have been from Warner Robins. What are their names?
—David Dickey, Decatur
A: Cantrell (2015) and Burma Davis (1968) are the only two Miss Warner Robins who have also won Miss Georgia, a pageant spokesman told Q&A on the News in an email.
Sandra Eakes (1979), Bobbie Eakes (1982) and Amanda Kozak (2006) were from Warner Robins, but held other titles before being crowned Miss Georgia.
Kelly Jerles, who was from Perry, also in Houston County, was Miss Georgia in 1987.
Warner Robins is the only city in the United States that has produced a Miss America’s Outstanding Teen (Olivia McMillan in 2015) and Miss America (Cantrell), the spokesman wrote.
Miss America’s Outstanding Teen is part of the Miss America Organization.
Q: Where did the term Hail Mary come from for a late touchdown pass at the end of a football game?
—Michael Caudle, Snellville
A: Former Dallas quarterback Roger Staubach is credited with popularizing the term Hail Mary after his last-minute 50-yard touchdown pass to Drew Pearson helped the Cowboys defeat Minnesota 17-14 in the 1975 NFC playoffs.
“I was kidding around with the writers,” Staubach recalled to The Dallas Morning News in 2010. “Then they asked the question. I said, ‘I got knocked down on the play. … I closed my eyes and said a Hail Mary.’ ”
Hail Mary, as a football term, dates to the 1920s and was referred to sporadically throughout the ensuing decades as a play that had low odds of success.
Andy Johnston with Fast Copy News Service wrote this column. Do you have a question about the news? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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