Rich Eisen of NBC Sports hit the nail on the head with this tweet:
“Rudy” sucks. It’s typical of Notre Dame’s overblown mythology. If Rudy plays at Akron, it’s not a movie. It’s maybe a highlight on local TV. Or maybe not.
This masochist who (supposedly) subjects himself to brutal beatings in practice so he can be “part of the team” gets a couple plays in the big time out of pity and enjoys a microscopic degree of (perceived) success because the game’s already decided and nobody else is playing hard. You’re telling me that’s a movie?
Most of “Rudy” is fiction. That’s because the real story is boring AF.
Rudy was offside, too. Watch the tape.
Rudy worked hard. So what? Talent is what counts. As Judge Smails eloquently put it, “The world needs ditch diggers, too.”
I met the real Rudy. He was Paul Failla’s neighbor in South Bend. Paul won a state championship at quarterback for North Allegheny High School in 1990, then played football and baseball at Notre Dame.
I went to see Paul play baseball at Notre Dame, and visited Rudy’s condo. It was a shrine to those two plays, and this was before the film.
Rudy told me his story, and how it was being made into a movie. Nice guy. But I remember thinking, “That’s not a movie.”
Then, a year later, I saw the movie. I remember thinking, “That’s not a movie.”
Rich Eisen rules. “Rudy” drools.
Thumbnail courtesy of Getty.