Daniel

The real Rudy sitting on the bench. #45 (http://www.sportshollywood.com/askrudy.html)

When you think of a hero, who do you see? Is it a fireman saving a crying baby from a burning building? Perhaps it is someone much simpler like your parents when they give you support and encourage you to try your best. I think heroes are people who know how to do the right thing just because it is what is right. I think heroes are people who go through hardships and don’t come out with grudges, but instead come out a better person. This is why I say Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger is a hero.

Rudy grew up in what I’m going to call a “hardship sandwich.” He was dyslexic, which went undiagnosed; his family was fairly poor; and he was one of 14 children. Daniel started at Joliet Catholic High School and played for the local star coach, Gordie Gillespie. After that, he joined the Navy for two years, and then a power plant for another two years, until he applied for the University of Notre Dame. Ruettiger had to spend the early part of his college years at Holy Cross College. He was rejected three times by Notre Dame but accepted in 1974 after learning he had dyslexia. Now, just stopping there, this sounds like the set up for a tragic movie. Speaking of movies, in case you didn’t know, they made a movie about his life, which contained most of this. After all of this back story, Rudy still came through as a better person.

Rudy in the movie. The actor is Sean Austin. (http://bluray.ign.com/dor/objects/14265321/rudy/images/rudy-20081020044140442.html?page=mediaFull)

Next, I’ll get into why I consider him a hero. Now at this time, Rudy was 5’5” and 165 pounds, but he still wanted to play for the Notre Dame football team. The head coach at the time was Ara Parseghian, who wanted walk-on players from the student body. Rudy soon found a place on the Notre Dame scout team which was pretty much a practice group. Now, in the movie, it shows Rudy as struggling hard through all practices and getting destroyed by teammates who are at least a foot taller, but Parseghian promised to play him in an actual game during his senior year. If he didn’t get to play one game, he would never be counted as an actual team member, so this was important to him. Sadly, Parseghian stepped down right before his senior year, and the new coach, Dan Devine wasn’t going to play him because he didn’t know of the hard work Rudy had put in each year. However, after some heroic actions from Rudy and his team, Rudy was reluctantly played during the last game. Well, in real life, this was partly true, because in actuality Devine, who gets given the “villain” role in the movie, was actually the person who came up with the idea to play Rudy in a game. In that last game, in the one play that Rudy got in, he sacked the quarterback to end the game.

Now, after listening to this story, I feel like it pretty much explains why Rudy is a hero. Rudy literally was beat up every practice and nowhere near the average height or weight of a normal football player, yet he never quit. Rudy always gave his all to something he loved, and always helped his team out. Rudy didn’t come from a rich or successful family, yet look at where he ended up. I think this is what defines a hero; he did what was right and without wanting a profit. Rudy was a good person. Rudy is a hero.