Biography Of Daniel Rudy Ruettiger

RUDY GOES LONG

In 1975, Daniel Rudy Ruettiger became the very first player to be carried off the Notre Dame Football field by his team mates. He was told that he was, “five foot nothing, with nary a speck of athletic ability,” and yet he managed to get, and keep, a spot on one of the most prestigious football teams. What was it about this kid? Was it that he was the smallest player on the team? Was it his popularity in general? No! It was his inspirational story that goes behind his success.

From a small age, Rudy was infatuated with watching the Notre Dame Football games, with his dad and brothers. This made him extremely inspired to go to the University of Notre Dame. When time came for his application to the University, he was busy working

As an alternative for the time, he attended Holy Cross Junior College, where he was diagnosed with dyslexia. Despite his dyslexia, Rudy studied very hard in order to keep his grades up to get into Notre Dame University. On top of all that, this young man volunteered to work for free with the Notre Dame groundskeeper, Fortune. Since Rudy had no place to stay, he would sleep in the maintenance room of the football team.

This young man got three rejections from the University of Notre Dame, but he still stayed optimistic and full of hope. It wasn’t until his fourth attempt, which was his final year of transfer eligibility, that he got accepted to this prestigious university.

Once accomplishing one of his dreams, he was onto the next in just short matter of time. Joining the Fighting Irish Football team. He convinced coach Ara Parseghian to provide a spot for him on the practice squad. Parseghian says, “Rudy is one of the most determined and optimistic players. He treats practice as though it is the real game. Rudy’s enthusiasm surely got him on the team. He eventually gained respect from all the other players because of his

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. This beatitude is very much like Rudy, for he was “hungry and thirsty” for success, and the Lord full filled his wants.”

Recently, a movie directed by David Anspaugh, was based on the storyline of Rudy’s journey. We asked some people that just watched the movie what their thoughts of his journey are. A group of friends, Ishika, Makiesh, Nisa, and Jacob say, “We could learn a lot from Rudy’s actions. We feel more inspired to beat the odds of our dreams, so we can find a way to make them come true. We specifically liked the ending scene where Rudy was allowed to play for the final kickoff. We liked it because, it showed his hard work and determination payed off at the end.”

Finally, we interviewed Rudy, he says the best advice he could give you is, “Make the decision to take action and move closer to your Dream. Create daily success habits and surround yourself with information that will empower and inspire