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Rudy Ruettiger

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia(Redirected from Daniel Ruettiger)Rudy RuettigerRuettiger (45) at 1975 Georgia Tech gameNotre Dame Fighting IrishNo.45PositionDefensive endClass1976MajorSociologyCareer historyCollege

• Holy Cross College (1972–1974)
• Notre Dame (1974–1976)

High schoolJoliet (IL) CatholicPersonal informationDate of birthAugust 23, 1948 (age68)Place of birthJoliet, IllinoisHeight5ft 6in (1.68m)Weight165lb (75kg)Career highlights and awardsThe first player to have been carried off the field at Notre Dame. Played only two defensive snaps recording one sack.

Daniel Eugene "Rudy" Ruettiger (born August 23, 1948) is a motivational speaker who played college football at the University of Notre Dame. His early life and career at Notre Dame was the inspiration for the 1993 film Rudy.

Contents

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• 1Early life and college career
• 2After college
• 3SEC investigation
• 4Publications
• 5Awards
• 6Movie Accuracy
• 7Notes
• 8References
• 9External links

Early life and college career[edit]

Daniel Ruettiger (nicknamed "Rudy") had a hard time in school because he was dyslexic. He was the third of fourteen children. He attended Joliet Catholic High School, where he played for locally famous coach Gordie Gillespie. Ruettiger joined the United States Navy after high school, serving as a yeoman on a communications command ship for two years; then he worked in a power plant for two years. He applied to Notre Dame, but due to his marginal grades he had to do his early college work at nearby Holy Cross College.

After two years at Holy Cross, Ruettiger was accepted as a student at Notre Dame on his fourth try, in the fall of 1974. It was during his time studying at Holy Cross that Ruettiger discovered he had dyslexia.

Ruettiger harbored a dream to play for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team, despite being undersized at merely 5'6" and 165 pounds.[1]Head coach Ara Parseghian encouraged walk-on players from the student body. For example, Notre Dame's 1969 starting center, Mike Oriard, was a walk-on who was eventually nominated for a Rhodes Scholarship and an NFL contract with the Kansas City Chiefs.[2][3]

After working as hard as possible and showing that he was willing to work as much as he needed to, Ruettiger earned a place on the Notre Dame scout team, a practice squad that helps the varsity team practice for games. Merv Johnson was the coach who was instrumental in keeping Rudy on as a scout-team player.

After the 1974 season, Notre Dame coach Parseghian stepped down, and former Green Bay Packers coach Dan Devine was named head coach. In Ruettiger's last opportunity to play for Notre Dame at home, Devine put him into a game as defensive endagainst Georgia Tech on November 8, 1975. In the movie Rudy, Devine is given a somewhat antagonistic role, not wanting Rudy to dress for his last game. However, in actuality, it was Devine who came up with the idea to dress Rudy. In the final play of Ruettiger's senior season with the Fighting Irish, he recorded a sack,[4] which is all his Notre Dame stat line has ever shown. Ruettiger actually played for three plays.[4] The first play was a kickoff,[4] the second play was an incomplete pass, and on the third (and final) play he sacked[4] Georgia Tech quarterback Rudy Allen.[5] Ruettiger was carried off the field by his teammates following the game.

Ruettiger signing autographs after speaking at Ohio University, January 2010

Ruettiger was one of two players in Notre Dame history to ever be carried off the field by his teammates. The other is Marc Edwards.[6][7]

After college[edit]

The inaugural 2007 College Football Rudy Award was held on January 8, 2008 at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee.[8] The College Football Rudy Award was created by the Rudy Foundation and honors Division I football players who demonstrate what Ruettiger refers to as "The Four C's": character, courage, contribution, and commitment as a member of their team.[9] The 2007 award was presented to Terry Clayton of the University of Kentucky Wildcats and the 2008 award was presented to Drew Combs of the Texas Christian University Horned Frogs. The 2009 award-winner was LeVon Morefield of University of Akron Zips, and in 2010 it went to Mark Herzlich of the Boston CollegeEagles.

On October 14, 2005, Ruettiger was the master of ceremonies at a pep rally for Notre Dame Football. The Fighting Irish were about to play rival and then #1-ranked University of Southern California (USC) the following day and Head Coach Charlie Weis asked some Notre Dame legends, including Tim Brown and Joe Montana, to come back and speak at the rally. Ruettiger came out of the tunnel at Notre Dame Stadium to a loud ovation.[10] Notre Dame ultimately lost the game.

In July 2009, Ruettiger was initiated into the Kappa Sigma Fraternity at the Grand Conclave in San Antonio, Texas.[11]

In September 2009, Trusted Sports and Rudy launched the High School Football 'Rudy' Awards, which aims to uncover the "Rudy" on every High School football team in America. The award is presented to the most inspirational High School football player who personifies what Rudy calls "The Four C's": Courage, Character, Commitment, and Contribution. Inspired by the College Football Rudy Awards, three finalists were announced on February 3, 2010. The winner, Calob Leindecker of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, received a college scholarship totalling $10,000. Two runners-up, Kyle Weafer of Kansas and Justin Ray Duke of Texas each received $5,000 scholarships.

Ruettiger's story was told in the 1993 film Rudy, which starred actor Sean Astin in the title role as Rudy. The film was written by Angelo Pizzo, directed by David Anspaugh and produced by Rob Fried, both of whom were involved in Hoosiers. Ruettiger appeared in a cameo as a fan behind Rudy's father and brother during the final scene.[12]

Rudy was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on January 21, 2017.[13]

SEC investigation[edit]

In 2011, Ruettiger was charged with security fraud by the SEC, for participating in a pump-and-dump scheme. A settlement of the case required Ruettiger to pay $382,866 in fines.[14]

Publications[edit]

• Rudy's Insights for Winning in Life ISBN 978-0-9658119-1-0
• Rudy's Lessons for Young Champions ISBN 978-0-9658119-0-3
• Rudy & Friends ISBN 978-1-880692-39-4

Awards[edit]

• Honorary Doctorate Degree from Our Lady of Holy Cross College
• The key to numerous cities across the nation along with special proclamations for his inspiration, commitment, and human spirit
• Honorary assist to the Attorney General of Louisiana
• Recognition from President George W. Bush
• Recognition at the White House
• Recognition from the House of Representatives in the state of Texas
• A Proclamation from the Governor of Nevada granting an Official Rudy Award Day

Movie Accuracy[edit]

This section may need to be rewritten entirely to comply with Wikipedia's quality standards. You can help. The discussion page may contain suggestions. (April 2015)

Ruettiger has said that the movie is "98% true." The players did not lay down their jerseys, instead the captain requested that he be on the team. Also, Dan Devine is given an antagonistic role in the film; the coach was actually one of his biggest motivators to return to the team. Ruettiger has stated that there was not a "Rudy" chant during the final game, although in an interview for The True Rudy Story he begins crying when recalling how the crowd chanted "Rudy" (5:18 minutes into the video).[15] The groundskeeper and former player Fortune is a combination of three different people.

Notes[edit]

1. Jump up ^ Ruettiger's stats on his official website. Rudyint.com. Retrieved on April 19, 2012.
2. Jump up ^ It's Not All Fun and Games: college athletics, Notre Dame Magazine Online, summer 2002 at the Wayback Machine (archived December 14, 2007)
3. Jump up ^ [1]
4. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Video of final three plays on YouTube (August 26, 2006). Retrieved on 2012-04-19.
5. Jump up ^ Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger recording the final sack for Notre Dame against Georgia Tech on November 8th, 1975 on YouTube
6. Jump up ^ Rudy Chasing the Frog. Chasingthefrog.com (February 25, 1971). Retrieved on 2012-04-19.
7. Jump up ^ Dick Weiss, SLIGHTING IRISH HURTS ALLEGED USC TAUNTS INSPIRE NOTRE DAME
8. Jump up ^ Rudy Award winner 2007 at the Wayback Machine (archived October 20, 2009). rudyawards.com
9. Jump up ^ The Rudy Award at the Wayback Machine (archived March 5, 2009). rudyawards.com
10. Jump up ^ "One for the ages: USC edges Notre Dame: Leinart pulls trickery with 3 seconds left, Bush scores 3 TDs in 34–31 win"; msnbc.com. MSNBC. Retrieved on April 19, 2012.
11. Jump up ^ 67th Grand Conclave – Kappa Zeta For Outstanding Year 2008 – 2009. Kappasigmagsu.com. Retrieved on April 19, 2012.
12. Jump up ^ "Rudy (1993) – Full Cast and Crew"; imdb.com
13. Jump up ^ Winn, Andrew. "Notre Dame Football: Real Life Rudy Is Now A Mormon". SB Nation. Retrieved 27 March 2017.
14. Jump up ^ "Rudy Ruettiger: I Shouldn't Have Been Chasing The Money" Forbes Magazine, 6/11/2012
15. Jump up ^ "The True Rudy Story Part 2, at 5:18"; youtube.com. youtube.com. Retrieved on June 20, 2016.

References[edit]

• Pagna, Tom, "Notre Dame's Era of Ara", Diamond Communications, Inc., 1976, ISBN 0-912083-74-3, pp 182–183, regarding Parseghian's use of walk-ons.
• http://www.rudyinternational.com/true-story