Tag: Rudy

Actor Ned Beatty, who played Rudy’s father, dead at 83

What is your favorite scene from “Rudy”?

Actor Ned Beatty, who appeared in more than 160 films and who was once nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in “Network”, has died at 83 years old.

Beatty was known by Notre Dame fans for his role in the 1993 film “Rudy” in which he played the underdog football player’s father and declared Notre Dame Stadium’s field “…the most beautiful sight these eyes have ever seen”.

As great of a line that is, perhaps my favorite part of that movie isn’t Rudy recording the sack at the end of the game (sorry for the spoiler but it’s been almost 30 years), but instead when he delivers the news to his father at work that he had been accepted to Notre Dame:

For a more complete obituary on Beatty beyond his work in “Rudy” you can check out this from the USA TODAY.

Our condolences, thoughts, and prayers go out to all the friends and family Beatty leaves behind.

Related:

“Rudy” – Actual Story Sounds Better Than Hollywood Version

Watch: Four Notre Dame Chargers lack any knowledge of ‘Rudy’

When football wraps up, you’ve got to fill the void somehow.

When football wraps up, you’ve got to fill the void somehow. In the case of the Los Angeles Chargers, you put together a show to help your fans get through the doldrums of the offseason. Would you believe that four Notre Dame alumni play for the Chargers? It only made sense for an episode about Notre Dame featuring Jerry Tillery, Drue Tranquill, Isaac Rochell and Alohi Gilman to come about:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJr3R1-Vgj8

The whole episode is 14 minutes, 40 seconds long, so if you don’t have that kind of time, you can be forgiven. However, you should at least spare 53 seconds to watch them commit the ultimate sin for anyone who’s put on an Irish uniform since 1993. Yes, they show their ignorance when it comes to Rudy, and the Chargers’ Twitter handle appropriately calls out the Irish for not educating them where they should have:

Look, if a modern Notre Dame player hasn’t seen Knute Rockne, All American, it’s bad but somewhat forgivable as that movie has somewhat fallen out of the public consciousness. However, Rudy remains steadfastly a part of pop culture, and it’s absolutely required viewing for anyone who commits to the program. Otherwise, you might as well take your business elsewhere.

Before Attending Notre Dame, Rudy Got His Start in the Navy

The story of Rudy Ruettiger, while inspiring, can become exhausting if you’re a Notre Dame fan.

The story of Rudy Ruettiger, while inspiring, can become exhausting if you’re a Notre Dame fan. After all, he’s seemingly the only Irish figure other than Knute Rockne whose fame extends beyond the college football world. And as any real Irish fan knows, the movie about him doesn’t tell the whole story. One notable omission is the time he spent in the military before even attending Holy Cross.

A new story from Military.com mentions how Ruettiger joined the Navy in 1968. For two years, he was a yeoman at sea. In fact, his GI Bill benefits allowed him to enroll at Holy Cross in 1972, two years before becoming one of Ara Parseghian’s scout players. So without his time serving our country, who knows if that famous play even happens?

The story goes on to talk about Ruettiger’s frequent visits and speeches with service members. He credits the Navy for changing both his thinking and his attitude. Perhaps that’s what allowed him to tell soldiers about what he calls the four C’s to success: Character, courage, commitment and contribution. Either way, Ruettiger is a proud veteran and deserves to be honored for his service even more than whatever he did on the football field.

The picks are in, ESPN’s GameDay crew makes their selections

Vince Vaughn joins the ESPN College GameDay crew (Lee Corso, Desmond Howard, Kirk Herbstreit and David Pollack) and pick today’s games.

The Big Ten returns this weekend and ESPN’s College GameDay took notice by traveling to chilly Minneapolis as the Michigan Wolverines are hosted by the Minnesota Gophers. As they always do, GameDay brings in a guest with a home-site flavor, actor Vince Vaughn.

Vaughn is famous for his roles in Rudy, Swingers, Old School, Wedding Crashers and many other fantastic films. He’s a huge sports fan, also roots for the Chicago Cubs. Here are Desmond Howard, David Pollack, Kirk Herbstreit, and Lee Corso’s plus Vaughn’s picks for the slate of games today.

Georgia Southern vs. Costal Carolina

Vaughn –  CC

Howard – CC

Pollack – Georgia Southern

Herbstreit – CC

Corso – CC

 

NC State vs. North Carolina

Vaughn – UNC

Howard – UNC

Pollack – UNC

Herbstreit – UNC

Corso – UNC

 

Auburn vs. Ole Miss

Vaughn – Ole Miss

Howard – Ole Miss

Pollack – Auburn

Herbstreit – Ole Miss

Corso – Auburn

 

South Carolina vs. LSU

Vaughn – LSU

Howard – LSU

Pollack – S. Carolina

Herbstreit – S. Carolina

Corso – LSU

 

Alabama vs. Tennessee

Vaughn – Bama

Howard – Bama

Pollack – Bama

Herbstreit – Bama

Corso – Bama

 

Notre Dame vs. Pittsburgh

Vaughn – ND

Howard – ND

Pollack – ND

Herbstreit – ND

Corso – ND

 

Baylor vs. Texas

Vaughn – UT

Howard – Baylor

Pollack – UT

Herbstreit – UT

Corso – UT

 

Cincinnati vs. SMU

Vaughn – Cincy

Howard – Cincy

Pollack – Cincy

Herbstreit – Cincy

Corso – SMU

 

Oklahoma vs. TCU

Vaughn – OU

Howard – OU

Pollack – OU

Herbstreit – OU

Corso – OU

 

Oklahoma State vs. Iowa State

Vaughn – Ok. St.

Howard – Ok. St.

Pollack – ISU

Herbstreit – Ok. St.

Corso – ISU

 

Penn State vs. Indiana

Vaughn – PSU

Howard – IU

Pollack – PSU

Herbstreit – PSU

Corso – IU

 

Nebraska vs. Ohio State

Vaughn – OSU

Howard – OSU

Pollack – OSU

Herbstreit – OSU

Corso – OSU

 

Michigan vs. Minnesota

Vaughn – Minnesota

Howard – UM

Pollack – Minnesota

Herbstreit – NO PICK

Corso – Michigan

Notre Dame Walk-On TE Xavier Lezynski Looking to Make Impact

An NJ.com story about Notre Dame walk-on tight end Xavier Lezynski wastes no time with the “Rudy” reference.

An NJ.com story about Notre Dame walk-on tight end Xavier Lezynski wastes no time with the “Rudy” reference. To be fair, it also acknowledges that there’s little in common with Lezynski and Rudy Ruettiger. For one, Lezynski is 7 inches taller and nearly 70 pounds heavier than Ruettiger was when he made his famous appearance. However, he’s also played as many snaps as Ruettiger did:  two, both against Bowling Green in 2019.

The story goes on to talk about Lezynski’s family, which resides in Newtown, Pennsylvania. His parents met at Notre Dame, and all four of their kids graduated from there. One of them, Nick, is on Brian Kelly’s staff as a defensive senior analyst. If there ever was a family defined by one school, this is it.

There’s no telling how much of the field Lezynski will see this year given his small size in comparison to Notre Dame’s other tight ends. Hopefully, it will be more than two plays against a team that comes to South Bend to take its lumps and go home. But no matter what happens, just to wear the gold and blue during Saturdays in the fall is honorable enough for him.

 

Georgia Tech Coach from the “Rudy Game” Dies at 88

Pepper Rodgers helped quarterback Georgia Tech to a national title before returning two decades later as their head football coach.

Pepper Rodgers helped guide Georgia Tech to a share of the 1952 national championship with the Yellow Jackets going 12-0 that season, capping it with a 24-7 win over No. 7 Mississippi in the Sugar Bowl.  A year later he’d cap his college career with three touchdown passes and a Sugar Bowl MVP performance in a win over West Virginia.

Rodgers would go on to be drafted by the Baltimore Colts in the the 1954 NFL Draft but Rodgers instead chose to serve five years in the United States Air Force.  While at the Air Force he got into coaching, ultimately working his way to the head spot at Kansas in 1967, a spot he’d hold for four seasons, winning the Big 8 Coach of the Year Award twice and leading the Jayhawks to a 1968 Orange Bowl appearance.

He’d spend three seasons at UCLA, winning two Pac 8 Coach of the Year Awards before returning to Georgia Tech.

Rodgers would spend six seasons as the head coach of the Yellow Jackets, going 34-31-2 and earning a Peach Bowl bid in 1978 as Georgia Tech finished 7-5.

For Notre Dame fans curious about the connection, Rodgers coached against the Fighting Irish six times at Georgia Tech, including the “Rudy Game” in 1975, a 24-3 Irish victory.  In his six games against Notre Dame, Rodgers and the Ramblin’ Wreck went just 1-5.

Rodgers would also spend time as a head coach for the USFL’s Memphis Showboats and the CFL’s Memphis Mad Dogs before serving as the Vice President of the Washington Redskins from 2001-2004.

Rodgers died Thursday at 88 years old.

WATCH: Star-Filled Notre Dame Zoom Meeting

The fun started with Lou Holtz and Digger Phelps jumping on a Notre Dame Zoom meeting but it certainly didn’t end just there!

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before…

Lou Holtz and Digger Phelps log into a Zoom meeting…

And Justin Tuck, Rudy, Tim Brown, Raghib Ismail, Ian Book, Hannah Storm, Brandon Wimbush and a ridiculous amount of other former Notre Dame stars are there to join them.

That’s exactly what happened Tuesday night and the Twitter account @NDLoyal was there to share it with all.

Every Zoom call I’ve ever been on I find myself being like Ian Book is for the majority of that two minutes.

Pretty cool to see that many familiar faces getting together on a random Tuesday night.

Watch: JJ Watt Remakes “Rudy” for Saturday Night Live

Can we get JJ Watt in a Notre Dame uniform next time they play Clemson though, please

If you missed Saturday Night Live this past weekend like most of the nation has done for sometime, JJ Watt, Houston Texans star and a University of Wisconsin product was the guest host.

Watt and much of the cast did a sketch remaking “Rudy” and did so in just four or so minutes.

Enjoy “Robbie” if you haven’t already seen it:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jHxEthp2-8&w=560&h=315]

I loved “Rudy” when it came out and still do, even if things we learn later on about his actual story may have meant for an even better film.

But if you can’t laugh at that then you’re taking things way too seriously.

Can we get JJ Watt in a Notre Dame uniform next time they play Clemson though, please? That would be nice.

“Rudy” – Actual Story Sounds Better Than Hollywood Version

The man didn’t shack up in Notre Dame Stadium, instead he lived and worked in the Joyce Center where he’d mop floors and do janitorial work.  He appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated as a result and once gave Elvis a t-shirt that “The King” would often wear around Graceland.

I don’t care about the predictability of the movie, some of the inaccuricies or how much effort it took the man it’s about to have it made, I’m a “Rudy” apologist.

Work hard, keep working hard, don’t take “no” for an answer no matter how many times you hear it and prove your doubters wrong no matter how long it takes.  Since I saw it in theaters in the fall of 1993 I’ve been a fan and that hasn’t wavered.

The only thing I don’t like about the movie is how they throw Dan Devine in front of the bus, run him over, back him over, run him over again and again and again.  I know every movie needs a villain but my goodness that seemed excessive.

But I digress from Devine, back to actual “Rudy” we go.

Ryan McGee of ESPN caught up with the actual Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger recently and wrote an extensive piece.

I won’t ruin the whole article for you, if you’ve got the ten or so minutes it takes to read at any point do yourself a favor and go read it.  I did have a few thoughts from it however.

The man didn’t shack up in Notre Dame Stadium, instead he lived and worked in the Joyce Center where he’d mop floors and do janitorial work.  He appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated as a result and once gave Elvis a t-shirt that “The King” would often wear around Graceland.

There was no jersey moment on Dan Devine’s desk and it wasn’t exactly the whole team that carried him off the field after-all.  But for a former Holy Cross student that spent time beating up Notre Dame football players in the annual Bengal Bouts on campus, that story sounds even better than the one Hollywood came up with.

His friend didn’t die in a steel-mill accident, instead he died in a coal power plant incident where Ruettiger tried saving his life, somehow more intense than how things go down in the film.

I’ll forever be a “Rudy” apologist and you can call me corny as much as you like, but after reading the piece the actual story of “Rudy” sounds more like “Forrest Gump” than it does of a walk-on football player and that’s perfectly OK.