July 21, 2005
By Linda Green

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The man who inspired the acclaimed film "Rudy" told 2,000 United Methodist men not to give up on life – or their dreams.

"The key to life is to not give up," said Rudy Ruettiger, a motivational speaker from Henderson, Nev. Speaking July 16, he instilled a "you can" attitude into the men attending the 9th National Gathering of United Methodist Men at Purdue University. "No matter how bad it is, you don't give up."

The Notre Dame graduate is the third of 14 children and perseverance and dreams have been a part of his life. He saw his accomplishments unfold on the big screen in the 1993 critically acclaimed movie "Rudy," the story of his dream to attend the renowned university and play football for the Fighting Irish.

Born in 1948 in Joliet, Ill., Ruettiger told the participants at the July 15-17 national United Methodist Men's gathering that before attending Notre Dame, he was a student at Holy Cross Junior College in South Bend, Ind.

It was here that he discovered he suffered from a mild case of dyslexia, and he learned how to compensate during his two years there and earn good grades. For three semesters, he sought admission to Notre Dame as a transfer student but was rejected each time. He was finally accepted and gained a spot on the football team despite his small size. His dream was to play in a game. His dream came true during the last two minutes of a home game with Georgia Tech.

Ruettiger told the United Methodist Men that he has not quit dreaming, and he warned them not to quit on their dreams no matter how much people may discourage them.

"Don't yield to people who say you can't do that," he said. "My father said you can't go to Notre Dame; you were third in your class (from the bottom) and you're dumb." A teacher told him that he could not realize his dream because he did not know the identity of the fifth U.S. president. "You don't need to know who the fifth U.S president was to be someone," he said. "Get rid of those goofy thoughts."

He told the men that possessing character and spirit would not allow failure. The purpose of each thing we do is about having significance and leaving a legacy, he said. "That is more important than becoming the richest guy in the world or the best-looking guy in the world."

A legacy comes from finding your purpose in life, Ruettiger said. Once your purpose is found, it becomes passion, which manifests into goals, he said.

He encouraged the men individually and collectively to have a dream. "It is simple and clear," he said. "Have a dream, have the purpose, have significance to that purpose and you will find out that no matter how old you really are, you will do things you never thought you would do."

Ruettiger received the John Wesley Fellow Award, recognition given by the United Methodist Men's Foundation, for his contributions to youth and community service work.

United Methodist News Service
Linda Green is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in Nashville, Tenn.