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By Mike Toone
Rudy was not the brightest student. Others
had much better grades. Rudy was not the biggest student.
Others towered over him, even many of the girls. Rudy
through most of his school years, and life, was not
a star in anything. That role fell to others. Rudy would
have been considered a nice, charming, average person
except he had one thing that nobody else had. He had
twenty-seven seconds in which he made some sports history.
Well, that, and he had a dream come true.
A couple of them.
Daniel Rudy Ruettiger was born in Joliet,
Illinois on August 23, 1948. Growing up in a large family
his parents taught him loyalty to their faith, family,
friends, and Notre Dame football. Like many young boys
he dreamed of playing football 96 miles away in a place
called South Bend. Of course one of the first steps
was getting through high school. That proved to be a
difficult first step. By the time Rudy, as he was called,
graduated he had it with school. He enlisted in the
Navy and became a yeoman. When his stint sailing was
over he was discharged honorably, and now had to find
work in the civilian world.
In time he found gainful employment at
a power plant. It was by all accounts a good job. One
you could work your whole adult life at. An industrial
accident changed all that. This accident also left his
close friend dead. Rudy, now 23, began to think about
going back to college. Meaning, he thought of Notre
Dame.
Sadly they were not thinking of him. Not
getting accepted there he did the next best thing. He
enrolled in the Holy Cross Junior College in South Bend.
To support himself he took a position as a grounds keeper
at Notre Dame's Knute Rockne Stadium. Since he was this
close to his boyhood dream the next step was to get
into Notre Dame. Three times he tried to transfer in.
Three times he was rejected. Around this time it was
figured out he had a mild form of dyslexia. Once he
got this under control he started passing tests. The
fourth time he tried to transfer was the charm.
Now came the most difficult step. When
your only 5'6' and barely 165 pounds soaking wet getting
on any college football team is difficult. Not to be
stopped he tried out and for no other reason then guts
he was given a position. Sort of. He was awarded a spot
on their scout team. A team used by the varsity to practice
against. They did not suit up for games.
That was OK by Rudy, and he let all know
it. In time he became well known at Notre Dame for his
contagious belief in their football team. He knew they
were good because he played against them. At least in
practice.
His remaining months at the school were
fast approaching. On November 8, 1975 the last home
game of Rudy's school years was being played. The game
was against Georgia Tech and was going Notre Dame's
way. So well that as the game ticked off time the coach
told Rudy to go put on a uniform. He used number 45.
With 27 seconds left Rudy got into the game. The audience
thought it was just the coach being nice but they roundly
applauded him. To Rudy it was a dream come true. What
he didn't expect was Georgia Tech's ball handler to
come running right at him. I suppose it seemed like
the path of least resistance. He obviously did not know
Rudy and was tackled by number 45. The crowd went wild
and Rudy was carried off the field on the shoulders
of his team mates. Something in the long history of
Notre Dame never done before or since.
Rudy graduated in 1976
with a Bachelors Degree in Sociology. For a time he
was in the insurance business. In time he started his
own janitorial service company. Later he founded a real
estate title business. What happened on that field in
Notre Dame was pretty much forgotten by all except Rudy.
He thought it would make a great movie, Hollywood had
other thoughts.
That is pretty much the way it went for
the next sixteen years. Work, pitch movie script, get
rejected. At some point he got married and had two children.
The dream of his, this new dream, never went away.
Finally Tristar Productions agreed to
give the film a chance. They would put together a cast
and production crew with Rudy acting as a consultant.
If it looked as promising as Rudy said it would they
would market it. In 1993 the film hit screens around
the world. Almost over night it became a must see family
film. To this day people of all ages seem to relate
to it.
Today Rudy is a motivational speaker
spreading the word that dreams do come true. He no longer
works at a power plant, but he is still providing power
to those that hear him.
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