There are few people known worldwide by their first name. “Rudy” is one of them. Listen to the fascinating “story behind the story” that you’ve never heard before.
Against all odds on a gridiron in South Bend, Indiana, Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger, in 27 seconds, carved his name into history books as perhaps the most famous graduate of the University of Notre Dame.
As fans cheered “RU-DY! RU-DY!” he sacked the quarterback in the last 27 seconds of the only play in the only game of his college football career. He is the only player in the school’s history to be carried off the field on his teammates’ shoulders.
In 1993, his life story was immortalized in the blockbuster film, “Rudy.” Written and produced by Angelo Pizzo and David Anspaugh, the award-winning team behind “Hoosiers.”
Today, Rudy entertains international corporate audiences as a sought-after motivational speaker with a unique, passionate, and heartfelt style of communicating. He reaches school children, university students, and professional athletes with the same enthusiasm, portraying the human spirit that comes from his personal experiences of adversity and triumph. His captivating personality and powerful message of “YES I CAN” stays with his audiences forever.
Rudy joins us in this episode of the Success Through Failure to share, not only his journey to the Notre Dame gridiron, but of getting the movie made despite seemingly insurmountable odds. Don’t miss it!
If you don’t have time to listen to the entire episode or if you hear something that you like but don’t have time to write it down, be sure to grab your free copy of the Action Plan from this episode— as well as get access to action plans from EVERY episode— at JimHarshawJr.com/Action.
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[00:00] Rudy Ruettiger: My whole mindset changed to I can do this. And that’s interesting when you change cultures, you see life differently. You see the world differently, found out all your failures were you’re set up for your successes. You learned a lot about what not
[00:20] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: to another episode of success through failure. This is your host, Jim Harshaw, Jr.
[00:25] And today I bring. Rudy that’s right. The Rudy from the movie, the actual guy, the subject of the movie, his name’s Daniel Rudiger goes by Rudy of course, a little bit of background. If in case you’ve been living under a rock for the last 20 some years, here’s the story of Rudy. Against all odds on the grid iron in south bend, Indiana Daniel, Rudy Ruettiger in 27 seconds.
[00:54] Carved his name into the history books as perhaps the most famous graduate of Notre Dame. He’s the son of an oil refinery worker in the third out of 14 kids. He rose from the valleys of discouragement and despair to the pinnacles of success today. He’s one of the most popular motivational speakers in the United States.
[01:14] When you say the word, Rudy, the name, Rudy. Everybody just knows what you mean. I mean, this, this guy is known by everyone. Anybody who’s a sports fan, anybody who’s a movie fan, fascinating story. It took him years of fierce determination to overcome obstacles and criticisms, but he achieved his first dream that was attending Notre Dame.
[01:34] And playing football for the fighting Irish. And he got in for the last play of the game and made a sack, which was just fascinating. He got carried off the field. He’s the only player in the school’s history to be carried off the field on his teammate’s shoulders. Then after that, he got this seed planted in his head about making the movie and Rudy shares with us, the adversity, the roadblocks, the success through failure story.
[01:59] That was his story. Just to get onto the team, just to get into the school. But then actually getting the movie made every roadblock. He overcame them a fascinating insight into the story that we all know that we all love that we’re familiar with in Rudy. This is the real guy in his own words. Give this episode a share, you know, people who would absolutely love this interview.
[02:24] So give this episode a share text, somebody tell ’em, Hey, check out the latest episode of success through failure with Rudy. That’s the way, this thing rose, that’s the way I’m able to bring on these great guests like this by telling ’em Hey, we got a great audience, a great listenership. It all comes down to you and I growing this thing together.
[02:42] So thank you for your help. Let’s get into my interview with Daniel. Rueger otherwise known as Rudy, Rudy what does Notre Dame football mean to your family growing up?
[02:53] Rudy Ruettiger: If you look at Notre Dame, the most storied school in the country. Football-wise. It’s how we grew up as Catholics. And that was the school to go to, if you really wanted to be, you know, this is selfish in a way, somebody, I think anybody could be anybody.
[03:10] You don’t have to go to Notre Dame, be somebody, but we believed if you went to Notre Dame, you could be somebody big and be part of that, that tradition and that aura and playing football, there was like, I don’t know, it was almost like going to heaven and that’s how we. They made everybody feel only special people go there and great athletes go there and special students, smart students.
[03:37] And that’s what held me back for years with Notre Dame. Even though it gave me hope when they wanted became a great fan of Notre Dame, but it was like a star. The dream was so real to me, but the star was so far away. So was an impossible dream for. It was not possible. It was stir in my academic class from the bottom, so that wasn’t gonna go anywhere.
[03:59] And I was a good football player, but not the quality football player that I were looking for in my size and everything. So I’m not a Notre Dame candidate academically or athletically. So,
[04:10] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: so why chase the dream, leave an attempt, something that like in your own words, I mean, in every realistic, common sense person would think why even.
[04:22] Rudy Ruettiger: Well, I watch a lot of sports movies that came out and a lot of inspirational movies and all those people who chased their dreams had talent. I didn’t have any talent . So I was against all the odds where they had at least a shot because they had some skill and talent, but here’s the secret I call the golden egg.
[04:45] If you buy into. It’s a pretty incredible deal. If you look at yourself from the inside out, not from the outside in life changes, there’s a couple things I talk about that coaches miss a lot. They look at skill and talent and they never look at heart. And heart’s the key. They always comment on a kid who has heart or the movie Rocky.
[05:09] He, he didn’t belong in the boxing ring, but yet his heart took him there. Cuz he prepared thinking he believed he belonged there too. Once he got that second chance, he had no right to think that unless someone gave him a second chance. So second chances are important even for the underdog type of guy.
[05:25] And that’s when I had a second. I think my Catholic bringing up from middle school to grade school, to high school. And if you were gonna go to Notre Dame, you better get the grades, but if you don’t have the grades, you better go to work. So I went to work and that blue collar, it’s not a dishonorable place to be, but yet that’s not.
[05:45] Where I wanted to be. You pack your lunch bucket every day you go to work and that’s when Notre Dame was, you listen to Notre Dame games every weekend, very loyal to that. They won. You had a great week. If they lost, you had a bad week. And I saw that affected the mindset of a lot of. People in my parish where I went to school in church and, uh, Notre Dame was a big thing.
[06:07] So you were looked up to, if you went to Notre Dame and you know, my dad worked three jobs. He was my goodness. I don’t know how he did it, but he, my raised 14 kids, my mother, and he, they were very selfless in their life because they worked for the kids for us and they made sure they were part of all.
[06:26] Activities. And I saw that. I said, well, he needs, I said, if I can give my dad a hope and dream, wouldn’t that be awesome to give him, but that was like a farfetched idea. But when you get inspir, During your process. When I made the decision going to Navy, my whole mindset changed to I can do this. And that’s interesting when you change cultures, you see life differently.
[06:50] You see the world differently, found out all your failures. Were your set up for your successes. You learned a lot about what not to do. Yeah. So you
[06:59] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: believe in that, that the philosophy of, you know, the name of this podcast is success through failure. I mean, you endured so many failures along this path to achieving this.
[07:08] Like you said, impossible dream. I mean, failure had to be part of that process. There was no straight
[07:14] Rudy Ruettiger: line, 100%. I, I think if you talk to any athlete, Or anybody that built a dream failure was part of that journey. And you have to know how to handle failure. How do you handle
[07:26] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: failure? Cause in, in the movie they say you were rejected three times from Notre Dame and you got in on the fourth and final try, but how you rebounding from.
[07:36] Rudy Ruettiger: Yeah, but that wasn’t even about getting rejected. That didn’t bother me. The, what bothered me was are they gonna listen to me when I go back to what more do I need to do? Just tell me, don’t tell me I can’t come here. Tell me what I need to do to get here. And why aren’t you putting me here? What’s wrong with me attitude.
[07:56] Uh, last year was that Notre Dame given a speech and, um, I, uh, come across a family. This is interesting. He failed out of Notre Dame, his freshman year. I happened to be there when his mother got the news, cuz she flew in from uh, New York kind of sitting with her son, consoling him, but very upset. I just happened to see that before my speech and I’m looking at.
[08:21] Tommy and his mother, I don’t know it was Tommy at the time, but he had something I connected to, he had a big BBO hat on. So I walked over to him and said, Hey guys, you’re in the bingo boats. He says, yeah. And the mother says, well, Tommy’s got a problem, said, what’s the problem. this is Tommy. And I’m his mother.
[08:38] I said, oh, I’m glad to meet you. I just saw the bingo bow had I, I was in the bingo bounce and I just wanted to connect. He said, well, Tommy’s failing out of Notre Dame. He just got a failure and they’re letting him go. I said, really said, what are you gonna do about that, Tommy? He says, I don’t know. I said, I know what you gonna do.
[08:58] How bad are you wanna go to Notre Dame? He says, I do. And the mother says, well, he got straight A’s in high school. Perfect. S a T captain of his hockey team and Tommy failed, noted. How could he do that? I said, don’t worry about why he did it. So let’s figure out how we could fix it. He failed. That was it.
[09:17] So there’s an answer and a solution to this. She says, what’s that? I said it’s. Tommy. I’m gonna ask you one question and we’ll go from there. How’s that said, and the mother said, ask him, said, do you want Notre Dame? He said, yes. Okay. You’re gonna go back to the guy you’re counselor and to the Dean. And you’re gonna ask him, what do you need to do to get back?
[09:38] That’s it. And they’re gonna see that you want to get back. They gonna tell you what to do then I’ll step forward. Make a call where you guys from New York. Yes. I have a friend that’s athletic director at long island. New York. I’ll make a phone call so you can work there cuz you’re gonna need a job and you’re gonna take a couple classes there and you’re gonna find what classes you need.
[09:59] If that’s the case, take those courses. Get the good grades. Get back. That’s the game plan. It’s real simple. You’re complicating it. Ma’am you’re complicating it for Tommy. He failed. So he failed. What was the purpose? COVID all right. So we know the purpose. Now we have to solve it. That’s how I talked to her.
[10:19] I just got this text. The other day. Hi Rudy. It’s Tommy. I hope you’re doing well. I was re readmitted into Notre Dame a couple of months ago and was able to take two Notre Dame summer classes online. I was waiting until I completed a class to text you, cuz I wanted to tell you my grades. I got a B in the first class and a and the other one and this.
[10:43] To bring my GP up a lot. I also enjoyed interning for Dr. Martin off until the end of the school year was able to help out with a lot of hockey, baseball, and lacrosse games. So thank you so much for that connection. Now I’m interning for Lee Zelda, who is running for governor in New York. How about that?
[11:03] Thank you so much for your encouragement and kindness. When I met you, I cannot wait to be back at Notre Dame. Now that that was a God moment. And that’s how Rudy happened. You gotta make these moments happen by moving forward through your failures. Otherwise, I don’t know. I don’t think you ever gotten back to not Dame.
[11:23] If I wasn’t there. Yeah, his mother never asked him, do you wanna go to Notre Dame? Do you wanna be, she would say, how’d you get fed? How could you do this? You know,
[11:35] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: Rudy, it seems like so much of your success came from not only resilience. I think obviously we, we see that, you know, getting up, trying to over and over again, but being willing to.
[11:46] Ask questions, make the bold request and also relationships. I see that like so many times I seen it in the movie and in the documentary and in our conversation, like you ask the question, you know, what can I do? What do I need to do? And you build relationships. Is that right?
[12:02] Rudy Ruettiger: Well, absolutely. And I had time to come to my speech too that day.
[12:06] And I said, just listen to what I’m saying. And you take it from there. Right? Watch this. He, he got the message, right? And, and the message was real simple time. You gotta do simple things in your life. Develop some habit that you need to do, and the habits are something you don’t like to do sometime. And here, here’s what he says after this speech.
[12:28] Here’s what he got out of it. Thank you so much for your encouragement. Kindness. When I met you, I cannot wait to be back at Notre Dame this fall, and to work hard to being successful there. P. I made my bed every day since I met you and barely ever did before then I said, your first success, when you get up, like when I was in an, I had to make my bed that started off the process of doing something you don’t wanna do that you need to do in order to make your first success step.
[12:58] Now you got your first success step. What’s your next step by step, Tommy. Do the little things first, you’re jumping to the final. You haven’t done the first step yet. Make yourself feel good, you know, and be understood that. And that’s what he got out of the speech, by the way, something that simple could change a mindset.
[13:20] That’s how the Navy changed my mindset. Cuz I start feeling good about Rudy. No one was criticizing me again or put me down or bullying me. If you’re not around that you start feeling good about yourself. That’s why I told time. You gotta get around people who encourage you, who empower you. And that’s why I sent him to long island university to my friend, Dr.
[13:41] Martin off, cuz he’s that type of guy. So that helped him. Now he’s on this next level next. You don’t know. Look, he’s a smart kid. Good kid. Great kid. Great mother, great dad. But they’re trying to figure out how to tell his father that he was failing outta not Notre Dame. I said, well, that’s a hard one, but it’s, but you know, just tell your dad what you’re gonna do and, and you go from there.
[14:06] So my whole point, there’s a lot of failure and disappointments and that’s part of life. I’m sure you’ve been through ’em as well.
[14:14] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: So you got accepted to Notre Dame and you know, after, you know, multiple attempts, multiple failures, you built relationships, you made the bold requests and you get accepted.
[14:24] Now this is only step one of the two step impossible dream. And the second step is to make it onto the football team. You’re too small. You’re not athletic enough. You’re not anything enough. You’re not anything. What they’re looking for. They’re ranked number one in the country and. You continue on to pursue the dream and, and you make contacts with coach Bei.
[14:46] Rudy Ruettiger: Decision I made was to contribute, not to be a star or a starter, but I had to think like a star and think like a starter and practice like a starter in order to contribute. So that’s the mindset I had cuz once I understood I’m not chasing a dumb dream, I’m chasing a real dream being part of something good and contributing that to me, made more sense in trying to be a start.
[15:13] Or be this or be that I’m most star. I know that I’m not guy you’re looking for, but I can contribute. And that’s what I bought into. And that’s where the power came from that moment. Cuz you practiced hard. You gave all your effort cuz. When you’re in that moment, you gotta give your effort for a couple reasons.
[15:35] One, you don’t want to get hurt and two, you’re working hard to make yourself better. And if you get better each day, you don’t know where you’re gonna end up. So I tried to get better each day at practice so I can contribute. That was my mindset. They never even considered me for a practice squad. You’re a practice dummy holder is what you are.
[15:57] And by the way, you don’t get gold pants either. Like the other guys, you have to earn your gold pants the day you got your gold pants and the day you got your helmet painted is the day you made the team. What I mean by that, you only make the team when they paint your helmet to dress for a. And they put your name on that Jersey.
[16:17] And that’s a big goal for me, but Hey, it was entitled to the other athletes already at there, helmet painted , you know, and their name on their Jersey. And they got the dress didn’t that NCAA rule came in. Only 60 guys could dress instead of 110, you know, so that again, you had to start over and that’s part of life too.
[16:36] Sometimes you need to starter over, but don’t give up on your goal, but you need mentors in your life and friends in your. To keep you going. You can’t do this. You can’t do this alone. You need coachs and mentors, just like what you do for, you need to coach people through their tough times. And, and that’s what I had.
[16:55] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: And so you get to know coach par Segan, and he promises you a chance to dress. And then he
[17:02] Rudy Ruettiger: leaves. I didn’t know him that well, I just confronted him at the door as he walked in his office. Hey, I’m Rudy Ruettiger man. I was in the Navy. I’m gonna try off of your football team, said you were in the Navy. I said, yes, sir.
[17:14] Where’d you serve son? I told him the great lakes and Mediterranean. He says I was in the Navy too. When you get in you come and see me. That was it. Was
[17:23] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: there a point when he promised you an opportunity to dress
[17:26] Rudy Ruettiger: promised all senior. So that was me too
[17:30] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: quick interruption. Hey, if you like what you’re hearing, be sure to get the notes, quotes and links in the action plan from this episode, just go to JimHarshawJr.com/ACTION.
[17:41] That’s Jim JimHarshawJr.com/ACTION. To get your free copy of the action plan. Now back to the show. For the listener. Everybody’s seen the movie, you’ve gotta get the documentary as well. It’s on Amazon prime and maybe some other places too, but it’s a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at not only this journey, but the journey we’re gonna get into next after football and after Notre Dame, which is another story in itself, you have this opportunity to dress.
[18:07] You hope right, is promised to the seniors and then coach GaN leaves. And the NCAA says only 60 get to dress and not 110. That’s not you. So there it goes. The dream is crumbled. Again. This is yet another, like the thousandth
[18:22] Rudy Ruettiger: roadblock. Yeah. That’s a reason to quit. Right? Why am I going to practice? This is stupid.
[18:28] Rudy. You made the commitment to contribute. You had to be reminded about that. So, because of that, remember I said, you’d need friends to remind you of what you need to do. Instead of looking back at how I failed. Of course you failed the whole system failed you just, now that doesn’t mean you quit that’s life, bro.
[18:47] Just get back out there that was told to me in a different terms and different words, but in the movie made it more polished. Let’s put it that way. so anyhow. You don’t know this. You don’t know if you’re earning respect from other players. You don’t even know what players think of you cuz you don’t ask them, Hey, do you like me?
[19:08] What do you think? You know, but they respected you. I earned their respect. One, the captain of the team went into the, our defensive coordinator, coach Chano and he went in, uh, Coach divine. I’m sure to get this. And then he came back. Yeah, we’ll get, get one guy to give up. His uniform was pat sour who gave up his uniform.
[19:28] So I got the dressed and it was just one of those things. You never thought you would get there, but you never gave up on. I called the preparation in your mindset. Don’t give up within that’s when it goes south, if you don’t give up, you don’t know what’s gonna happen.
[19:46] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: And you finally get word that you’re gonna dress for the final game.
[19:49] What was it like? What was that like telling your family, telling your dad, telling your brothers.
[19:53] Rudy Ruettiger: I just called my brothers to tell mom and dad, and that was it. And they took care of the rest. And, uh, first the, my one brother got confused. He thought I was playing for Notre Dame when I was at holy cross.
[20:06] He didn’t understand, we had an inner hall football. tackle football at Notre Dame. So each hall competed against each other and our hall competed against. The other halls, you
[20:18] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: thought that’s what you were talking about when you said you get to
[20:20] Rudy Ruettiger: play. Yeah. And also too, it got me prepared for at least back into the football tackle, cuz I haven’t played football in years, but anyhow, a lot of those kids were all Americans in high school that you’re playing against.
[20:34] It’s pretty big deal at Notre Dame. Plus you get the hand down, equip. From the university’s football team, varsity football. And they hand it down when they get new stuff. So you get the old stuff to wear, but that’s okay. And it was good. It was good preparation. You make it, you get the dress, you get carried off.
[20:53] Then a sports writer says this only happens in H what I just witnessed that was seed planet. And when that seed was planted, what do you do with that seed? But what do you do after. Play at Notre Dame. And then you graduate, what do you do? I didn’t even know what I was gonna do after I graduated. I had no idea all I wanted to get through that, get the degree and get through Notre Dame football.
[21:14] That was it. I didn’t have no future goals. I didn’t wanna be a doctor, a lawyer or bookkeeper, nothing. I thought I was gonna die going to heaven. Maybe that was it. And you know, you gotta go to work Ru. So I went and sold insurance. And because of that, I learned a lot more about failure and, you know, getting rejected and all of a sudden I see the movie Rocky and inspired me.
[21:38] So the movie. Came into reality because of that seed that was planted. Maybe that guy’s right. Maybe I should go make a movie. So I go out to Hollywood and get beat up for eight years and go to Notre Dame. And Notre Dame just rejected me. We were not gonna do another movie here. We already done our movie and I never gave up on the movie.
[21:59] Uh, so I meet a hotel manager after the final rejection from Notre Dame on the movie. And he says, you need to, this is the ninth year into the. Another Dame athletic department asked me never to talk about this movie. Don’t talk about our, to our athletes about this movie, or we will not allow you on campus and we will bar you from this university period.
[22:21] I had to sign the letter, but that didn’t stop me. I said, these are bozo guys. They were a bunch of bulls, but you can’t tell ’em that right? You can, but it doesn’t usually work out well, wait a minute. What, what are you talking about? Yes, I could talk to get about anything I wanna talk about, you know, they’re looking at me, you’re not part of this lore of Notre Dame.
[22:41] You real, why you think, cause you made a tackle. You’re somebody, they didn’t get in the message. All I wanted to do was talk to these kids and relieve the stress that they had at the university of being an athlete and calm ’em down and, you know, talk to ’em and get ’em in the right mindset. So that’s where it’s at.
[23:00] It all pays off, by the way. I just think the movie idea was so far fetched to Notre Dame, and then it became so far fetched for me, but I kept watching other movies and I kept getting empower. Hoosiers field of dreams, movies like that kept telling me keep going. So I needed that inspiration too. It’s such a farfetched thing to go out to Hollywood and make my movie for what
[23:27] What did you do? I made a tackle who cares? Right? But the number one storied football program in the country is Notre Dame. So it’s a hook, but Notre Dame didn’t like me using that. They didn’t trust Hollywood. So that’s why they barred me. So the hotel manager asked me if I would meet with his brother. I said, yes, that’s why relationships are I met with his brother and his brother loved the idea, making a movie.
[23:55] I didn’t know. He was part of the movie Hoosiers. And then he said, I’m gonna set you up with the writer. Of who yours, but you need to go out to California and meet him. Would you do that? I said, yes. Set it up and I’ll go out there. So there I go with a second hope. Now, now you got new hope. At least I could talk to a guy I’ve been looking for for years.
[24:14] Now I can go meet this guy. And I go out there and he doesn’t show up for the meeting. And that’s why you sold insurance, understand what nohow are about. And, but you don’t give up, you walk outside and you have you tell your friend, just relax. I’ll be back. So where are you going? I said, I’m gonna go find him, says you’re crazy.
[24:34] So I go, I see a male. And he, and all he did to the mailman was thank him for his energy and his smile. And he, and he asked, where are you from man? No, one’s ever thanked me. He said, oh, I’m from Indiana, Illinois. He said, I’m from Michigan. The mailman says that we connected cuz we’re Midwest guys. He told me why he’s happy by being out there.
[24:55] So I thanked him for that energy said, why are you out here? I told him, I’m trying to make a movie. He said, oh, I hear that all the time. What’s your story. I told him he liked it. He says, come on, follow me. I know where this guy lives. After I told him who I was meeting with. Took me to his house. And that’s how the movie Rudy kind of started until I met the guy, knocked down his door and he says, I’m not interested in doing another sports star.
[25:18] And I hate Notre Dame. And I says, uh, well, you’re late for lunch and he says, wow, I’m not gonna talk about no movie. He was really nice. But matter of fact, come on, let’s go to lunch. Anyhow, built a relationship. We never talked about the movie two years later, he’s commissioned to write the movie, Rudy. How does that.
[25:37] Because there was a guy at Columbia pitchers who wanted a sports movie. So he called the guys from Orion pitchers who did Hoosiers. And one of the producers was part of that. So he was part of the Angelo David SBA team. And he was one of the guys that got a two movie deal from Columbia pitchers. And he happened to graduate from Michigan state, this guy.
[26:00] And he was a walk on, on the football team. And he said, you guys got any sports movies? I got 25 million. To do one. And the guy said, well, let’s talk to the guys from ger. See if they have any ideas. Now see a bold move pays off. If I didn’t make that move or go out and say, I’m not giving up. I would never met Angela angel would never told him the story to the president of Columbia pitchers.
[26:22] And he said, I wanna see this movie. I can’t wait to see it. So it took ’em about five minutes to get it approved. So they came and start writing the screen. There’s more tooth than this, but Notre Dame did not know we were writing a screenplay and when they greenlighted a screenplay, they were ready to go.
[26:42] Then the guy who approved the movie got fired. So everything that we had went to the basket. Another roadblock. So we had to go over to the sister company Tristar and the guys approved it right away. So now we we’re on, we’re off, we’re off we’re on and all that, but this is where you get, keep believing and don’t give up.
[27:02] And so I flew out to California, got with the team, we made it happen at that point. And then I had to go get Notre Ames approval. When I told ’em we don’t have their approval, they gave me 48 hours and I got the approval. Everything’s timing.
[27:17] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: You had roadblock after roadblock, after roadblock.
[27:19] Rudy Ruettiger: Failure, after failure after failure.
[27:23] Rudy Ruettiger: But I say to you, failure, I don’t like failure, but you learn from failure. And it’s just fun to know that when you work through this, you helped other people. Kobe Bryant was inspired by the movie. Who would know that who would ever think Kobe Bryant, he got the real simple, powerful message. Go over to YouTube, USC, Kobe Bryant, Rudy.
[27:49] And you’ll see what he says. It’s pretty powerful. When he was 16 years old, he got the, he kept watching Rudy over, over against film was important to him and empowered him to be that person. And he wouldn’t be in the NBA if it wasn’t for the movie Rudy, he says, and he saw me at a, a LA lake. Game. Cause my daughter was singing the national Anthem.
[28:13] He came over to me. Are you Rudy? This is during warmups. I says, yeah, the real Rudy. I says, yes. Oh my God, is this, who’s this your son? I says, yeah. I said, my daughter’s gonna sing the national Anthem. I says, I know we heard, everyone knows you’re here. I said, wow. He says, if it wasn’t for your movie, I wouldn’t be here.
[28:32] I said really? And he told me the reason I said, that’s pretty cool, man. You know, you just don’t. And there’s other examples of that too. Just like Tommy, you know, they didn’t know what to do, what to do as you go to the people who got you out and ask them what more you need to do. Tell you’re coming back, man.
[28:52] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: how did your life change? After the movie
[28:54] Rudy Ruettiger: came out? It changed before the movie came out. It changed when I got out of the. It just got better. You start thinking more positive and you start looking at things more positive and you didn’t look at rejection as negative. You looked at it as lessons learned.
[29:11] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: What habits do you feel have really set you apart? I mean, is it the things that we already talked about? The building, the relationships, obviously the resilience underlies all of this, but making the bold requests,
[29:24] Rudy Ruettiger: getting yourself an order first, like Tommy, get yourself an order, make your bed. And take your to go brush your teeth, take a shower.
[29:33] Keep your room clean, then do the other. If you wanna play hockey, you go work out. Build yourself up. If you wanna continue at Notre Dame, you gotta go study. Do the hard stuff, do that stuff and play later and work now habits.
[29:49] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: For the listener. Who’s sitting there thinking I get it, Rudy, this is inspiring.
[29:54] I’ve seen your story now. I’ve heard it straight from you. Is there an action item that you can recommend that somebody can do in the next 24 to 48 hours to start moving towards and their dreams? Get
[30:05] Rudy Ruettiger: rid of your goofy thinking by getting rid of your goofy friends. I grew up in the sixties. You think it’s tough now I should have grew up in the fifties and sixties.
[30:14] It’s all fake. What? It’s an illusion. What they’re telling you? Just, no, it is just work through the tough times. Yeah. There’s some tough times. Well, my parents went through tough, but they made it. Everything’s in, you know, you have to recycle your.
[30:28] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: Rudy. It’s been an honor getting to talk to somebody who has inspired millions upon millions, including some of the greats like Kobe Bryant.
[30:37] So thank you for making the.
[30:39] Rudy Ruettiger: You too, Jim. You’re you’re a champion for sure. So thanks and keep doing what you’re doing, bro. And let’s
[30:45] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: make a quick addendum here for my wrestling fans who are listening. I was a wrestler as you know, wrestling runs deep in the Rudiger family.
[30:54] Rudy Ruettiger: Yeah. We got five brothers who are N NCAA champions, all Americans.
[30:59] Four times state champions, or once they coach their teams became state champions. And the head coach at Michigan is one of the products. Yeah. Sean Boor met
[31:09] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: well, yeah, your brother coached him, right?
[31:10] Rudy Ruettiger: Yeah. And, uh, we’re in the family of the Dan Gable family thing about that. so we got some, some roots in there.
[31:18] Yeah, you do. Yeah.
[31:20] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: Rudy. Thanks
[31:21] Rudy Ruettiger: for making time. God bless you. My brother. See you, Jim. Talk to you soon. Thank.
[31:27] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: Thanks for listening. If you want to apply these principles into your life, let’s talk. You can see the limited spaces that are open on my calendar JimHarshawJr.com/APPLY where you can sign up for a free one-time coaching call directly with me.
[31:42] And don’t forget to grab your action plan. Just go to JimHarshawJr.com/ACTION. And lastly, iTunes tends to suggest podcasts with more ratings and reviews more. You would totally make my day. If you give me a rating and review those go a long way in helping me grow the podcast audience, just open up your podcast app.
[32:03] If you have an iPhone, do a search for success through failure, select it, and then scroll the whole way to the bottom where you can leave the podcast, a rating and a review. Now I hope this isn’t just another podcast episode for you. I hope you take action on what you learned here today. Good luck and thanks for listening.
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