He was told that he was 5-foot nothin’, with nary a speck of athletic ability. And yet he hung in for two years with the best college football team in the land.
Becoming Notre Dame’s most famous undersized walk-on and having his life depicted in the unforgettable 1993 movie “Rudy” were dreams that came true for Daniel (Rudy) Ruettiger.
But Friday, the day before Army and Notre Dame take the field to renew their rivalry at Yankee Stadium, Ruettiger scratched another dream off his bucket list.
“I have never been to Yankee Stadium,” a gushing Ruettiger told an auditorium of students at Cardinal Hayes HS, just minutes from the House That George Built. “Guess where I’m going at 1:30 p.m. today? Yankee Stadium.
“How awesome is that?” he said, as the students showered him with cheers of “Rudy, Rudy!”
Despite growing up in Joliet, Ill., the South Side of Chicago, Ruettiger was a Yankees fan. Yesterday, he fulfilled a lifelong dream.
“It’s a dream come true,” Ruettiger said. “On the field with the big guys before the big game.”
Unfortunately, Ruettiger won’t be able to attend the historic 50th meeting between Notre Dame and Army live from on Saturday night.
“I can’t go to the game,” said Ruettiger, 62. “I've got to be in Las Vegas Saturday morning for my boy’s soccer game. I can’t miss my (8-year-old) boy’s game. Can you imagine him on the sideline like, ‘Dad, you didn’t go to my game, you went to the Notre Dame game!’ My boy’s more important than Notre Dame right now.”
Noble decision from a noble man.
Ruettiger, who currently resides with his wife and two children in Henderson, Nev., spends his time today giving motivational speeches across the country.
Marcus Hilton, a former Cardinal Hayes standout and an Army senior defensive end who will see action against Notre Dame, drew instant parallels to Ruettiger’s life.
“It’s very similar,” said Hilton, who also made his first ever trip to Yankee Stadium on Friday. “Coming up in the Bronx, they either expect you to drop out of school or do drugs and not be as productive as other people and that’s just not the case. We’re as talented as other people, but the light just doesn’t shine on us as bright, so we have to work that much more harder. That’s something I always believed in.”
Students at Cardinal Hayes, which counts talk show host Regis Philbin, movie director Martin Scorsese and former NBA star Jamal Mashburn as famous alum, watched “Rudy” prior to Ruettiger’s visit.
Ruettiger says he isn’t surprised that the movie still resonates with younger crowds, more than 17 years after its initial release.
“I represent what they’re going through and they’re looking for hope, like, ‘If that guy can make it, I can make it,’” Ruettiger said. “It’s a simple connection. The movie was put together to have that effect. We wanted to make it a message and very powerful.”
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