“Rudy” Tackles Every Challenge

Since His Story Went Hollywood Former Notre Dame Player Has Inspired Others

Riding in the backseat of a convertible, waving to throngs of spectators lining neighborhood streets during Pacific Palisades’ Fourth of July Parade last Saturday must have brought back memories for Daniel Ruettiger. Memories of a Saturday 35 years earlier when he was hoisted onto the shoulders of teammates and carried off the field. That was a monumental moment in his life, but one that might never have been remembered outside of South Bend, Indiana, had it not been for Ruettiger’s will and determination to make his story known–the same attributes he had used to fulfill his childhood dream of playing college football at Notre Dame. “I got into a game and I made a tackle, not exactly the most distinguished career, right?” Ruettiger joked. “Thousands of other players accomplished more in football than I did, but for someone like me that meant as much as winning the Super Bowl.” Thanks in part to Hollywood, Ruettiger is known now simply as “Rudy,” the title of a 1993 movie that turned out to be as big a longshot as a 5′ 6,” 165-pound walk-on senior playing two downs for the Fighting Irish in the final home game of 1975. Ruettiger sacked Georgia Tech’s quarterback on the final play and, in 2005, an ESPN poll named “Rudy” one of the 20 best sports movies of the previous 25 years. “It took me 10 years to get the film made,” Ruettiger said. “The first time I met [screenwriter] Angelo Pizzo he told me ‘I’m not interested in doing a sports story and I hate Notre Dame.’ I just wasn’t about to give up and two years later he ended up writing the script.” Not only did Ruettiger have to convince a studio to back the project, he also had to get permission from his alma mater’s administration to shoot the movie on campus. Such a request had not been granted since “Knute Rockne, All American” in 1940. “There were so many obstacles,” said Ruettiger, who is now a motivational speaker and author. “You know, it wasn’t like Sony and Universal were fighting for the rights. Everyone was skeptical about the idea at first but I believed in it so much that I was willing to risk everything I had to make it happen.” The movie, in fact, launched Ruettiger into a new and rewarding career, one he did not anticipate: “It all started shortly after the movie was released when a corporate executive called and said he just saw the movie and wanted me to speak to his company. He thought I might be able to inspire his employees the way the movie had inspired people. I agreed to do it, then I began to get requests, from corporations, clubs, high schools, universities–you name it.” Ramis Sadrieh, an Executive Committee member of the Pacific Palisades Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, was the first to inquire about Ruettiger but didn’t know how to contact him. That is, until he talked to Palisadian Kevin Quinn, a Notre Dame alum and friend of the real-life Rudy. Ruettiger was honored to be invited to this year’s parade and was even more honored to meet one of his childhood idols, 1964 Heisman Trophy winner and Pacific Palisades resident John Huarte, at lunch one hour earlier. “I was in high school in Joliet, Illinois, and he was like a god,” Ruettiger recalled. “John was the quarterback for one of Notre Dame’s finest teams ever. We watched the games every week!” Huarte seemed just as thrilled to meet Ruettiger: “Of course I remember him. The movie was terrific, really inspiring. And I think there are a lot of Rudys on a lot of teams.” Ruettiger has a wife and two kids and now lives in Henderson, Nevada. His newly-established Rudy Foundation, based in Las Vegas, helps children around the world reach their full potential by developing and supporting programs that positively impact young people’s lives cognitively, emotionally, physically and spiritually. “We just showed the movie to 400 foster kids in Florida and they loved it,” said Ruettiger, who has 13 brothers and sisters. “See, it’s really not about football or about Notre Dame. The message is that our thoughts change our lives. Believe you can do something and you’ll do it.” Ruettiger graduated from Notre Dame with a Sociology degree. Although actor Sean Astin played the role of Rudy in the movie Ruettiger appears in one scene–as a fan in the stands during the final game–standing right behind Ned Beatty (who played Rudy’s father).