Henderson resident, ‘Rudy’ inspiration speaks to students about pursuing dreams

In the eponymous film Rudy Ruettiger pushed to have made, a stadium of admirers cheered his name.

On a recent night in Henderson, the college atmosphere was a bit more subdued.

A few dozen students filled the John C. Kish Auditorium at the College of Southern Nevada’s Henderson Campus on April 11 to hear the former Notre Dame football player speak about chasing dreams and finding purpose.

“I had to go through a struggle to find out who Rudy was,” said Ruettiger, who dressed for one game in 1975 and recorded a sack.

Long before he was the namesake of a movie — 1993’s “Rudy” — the 68-year-old Henderson resident dreamed of playing for the New York Yankees.

He said he wasn’t the smartest in his class and would later find out he was dyslexic. Regardless, homework was not a priority.

Ruettiger recalled skipping his history homework one night to play home run derby with his friends and going to class unprepared the next day.

“I sat in the front row, bragging to my friends, ‘I won!’ And the teacher notices I didn’t do my homework,” Ruettiger said. “That teacher pointed me out and put me down in front of my peers.”

Ruettiger said he learned from the experience.

“I realized there are people looking at the negatives, rather than the positives,” he said. “People are trying to put you down. You can’t let that happen.”

Ruettiger’s speech was a mix of inspirational stories, stories about famous athletes and plugs for his biopic.

He told of chatting with a student-athlete’s father, who told Ruettiger his son loved “Rudy” growing up and wanted to go to Notre Dame.

“Well, Notre Dame turned him down,” Ruettiger recalled. “He ended up going to Michigan and was a late-round draft pick. It was (New England Patriots quarterback) Tom Brady.”

Ruettiger encouraged the audience to read inspirational books to build self-confidence.

Ruettiger also talked about the struggle of getting “Rudy” made.

“Patience is key, as long as you have a purpose,” Ruettiger said. “I had a purpose, and I knew I wanted to get this movie done.”

Reuttiger’s speech also drew criticism.

“I thought it was a fun conversation, but he was all over the place,” said Lylah Mathis, a philosophy student at CSN. “Plus, it felt like he was talking more about himself than actually providing advice for us.

“I think he’s a nice guy and has a nice story, but his question of the day was, ‘Does that make sense?’ I kept telling myself no.”

Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@viewnews.com or call 702-477-3834. Follow @DannyWebster21 on Twitter.