Daniel 'Rudy' Ruettiger (Sean Astin) is small and undersized, he has a learning disability (dyslexia) and he is one of fourteen (yes, fourteen!) children from a blue-collar family, yet he's wanted to attend Notre Dame and play on the football team since he's been a young boy.
Let's just say the odds aren't with him. His brothers, his parents, his teachers, his coaches, no one has supported him, yet he has always believed that he will attend Notre Dame and play college football.
We see a few clips of him growing up and we see his final day of football in high school as his coach tells a few players - none of which are Rudy - that they will go on. The rest get to hit the coach and his bag one last time. Yet he doesn't give up.
He goes to work for his father in the steel mill with his friend Pete. The years go by yet he doesn't give up his dream. His girl wants to get married and settle down but he wants to go to Notre Dame. One day, Pete dies in an accident at the mill, and that's what convinces Rudy that it's now or never, so he hops a bus that very night.
Unfortunately it's not the opportune moment to start college, but you have to give him credit for trying. He meets a kind priest who gets him a chance at a junior college, where he can try to get the grades to transfer to Notre Dame. There he meets D-Bob (Jon Favreau in his first real role), who offers to tutor Rudy in exchange for helping him meet girls. That's where Rudy learns of his dyslexia, and after working with D-Bob and studying, he manages to eventually get into Notre Dame. Now he just needs to get on the football team.
He tries out the next year and his tenacity gets him a job on the prep squad - that means he's on the team, but he basically gets beat up every week as the team prepares to go against the next opponent. In the words of the coaches "they don't care if they get hurt". But it does earn him the admiration of the other players because he sticks with it, and the coach promises him the opportunity to dress for one game the next season if he continues doing what he's doing.
The only problem is the coach leaves before the next season starts. Still, Rudy sticks it out in hopes that the next coach will honor the agreement. Of course, he does not. At least, not initially. But then, in one of the most stirring scenes you are ever likely to see, one team member after another comes into the office of the coach and offers up their jersey so that Rudy can dress in their place. It's just a movie, but it's an impressive display. In the end, of course, Rudy gets to dress, in the last game of his last season.
Now the problem is that if you don't play, you aren't recorded as having been on the team. Still, he sits dutifully, because his father gets to see him in uniform in the stadium. But with under a minute to play, the team and the stadium begins to chant his name to get him some playing time - a chance to play and be recorded. Finally the coach relents and puts him in on a kickoff, and with just a few seconds to play, he gets to stay in for a defensive play too. He then sacks the quarterback and is carried off the field. A great end to a great movie.
Rated PG for language.
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