A man that is a University of Notre Dame legend has a film based on his life, and is Mike Tyson’s neighbor, Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger came to JC on Sunday, Sept. 20. He shared his story about following his dreams while motivating others to do so as well. “It’s not about the tackle. It’s about the journey that got me there,” Ruettiger said.

JC has a strong connection with the University of Notre Dame. “Gerry Gray, our first football coach [at JC], graduated from Notre Dame, and he played for Notre Dame. He is the one that designed our uniforms and helmets. That is why our helmets are gold,” Principal Madelyn Ball said.

The presentation opened with the Marching Band playing the Notre Dame Fight Song and President Richard O’Hara explaining JC’s affiliation with the University of Notre Dame.

According to Ball, Ruettiger’s message was one of simplicity and emphasized keeping your priorities straight. She also spoke of his reputation and why she thought he would be a good speaker. “I have been familiar with his story most of my life. He is well known as someone that never gave up, someone that worked towards a goal and made it,” Ball said.

Sept. 19 marked the 40 year anniversary of Ruettiger’s famous tackle, which was his inspiration to go to Hollywood and to pitch the movie idea for Rudy. “They wanted to know what I did. I said, ‘I made a tackle,'” Ruettiger said.

The movie Rudy is a biographical story of Ruettiger and his struggles in his early life. In this movie Ruettiger plays the underdog , who defies all odds and follows his dream, which was to play football at the University Notre Dame.

According to Ruettiger, the dream of Rudy  began long before his famous tackle in 1975. During his high school years, he would daydream instead of doing what he was supposed to do such as paying attention in class or doing his homework.

“I didn’t do homework,” Ruettiger said. His teachers would call him out, and this started to take a toll on his self-esteem. “I started focusing on the negative and not the positive,” Ruettiger said.

After he graduated high school in 1966, Ruettiger decided to join the U.S. Navy. It was at this time he started to believe in his dream of attending the University of Notre Dame with the help of his Naval superiors. “Dreams come from people,” Ruettiger said, referencing his fellow officers and superiors from the Navy.

In 1974, after two years of work at Holy Cross Junior College, he was finally accepted into the University of Notre Dame. According to Ruettiger, this was due to his upbeat and positive attitude. “God has a way of getting his message across when you stop that goofy thinking,” Ruettiger said.

Ruettiger claimed that you aren’t entitled to anything and you have to earn what you want, even a movie deal. Since the movie Rudy was made, Ruettiger started receiving negative comments about his journey. According to Ruettiger, he always responds positively. “It doesn’t matter. They still made my movie,” Ruettiger said.

Ruettiger parted with one final message for everyone. “Life is short, go for your dream,” Ruettiger said.
Katherine Grimm is a Media Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.