“You can Fail and not be a Failure.” This important principle is illustrated by the story of Daniel Ruettiger or “Rudy.” In addition to the information the film provides you can read about Rudy in John Maxwell’s book Failing Forward or Rudy Ruettiger’s book Rudy’s Rules. Here is how Maxwell tells the story: “Rudy” desperately wanted to play football for Notre Dame. You may have seen the film based on his life called Rudy. It was a good movie, but his real story is even more remarkable and compelling.
The first of fourteen children in a poor working–class family, Rudy loved sports as a kid and believed that might be his ticket out of Joliet, Illinois. In high school, he gave himself completely to football, but his heart was much greater than his physique. He was slow, and at five feet six inches tall and 190 pounds, he wasn’t exactly built for the game.
As a senior, he began dreaming about attending Notre Dame and playing football there. But Rudy faced another problem. His grades showed less promise than his physique. “I finished third in my class,” he is fond of saying. “Not from the top, but from the bottom.” He was a D student. He graduated from high school with a 1.77 grade point average.
For the next several years, Rudy changed his focus from one thing to another. He tried attending junior college for one semester but flunked every class. He went to work for two years at the local Commonwealth Edison power plant in Joilet—what he considered to be the ultimate dead-end job. And even did a two-year hitch in the navy, which turned out to be a turning point for him. That’s where he discovered that he wasn’t dumb and that he could handle responsibility.
After his military service, he returned to Joliet and again worked in the power plant. He was more determined than ever to go to Notre Dame, despite the criticism of his family, friends, and coworkers. He knew he was not a failure, and he would find a way to go to South Bend.
If you saw the movie, then you know that Rudy eventually made it. He quit his job, moved to South Bend, and managed to get into Holy Cross College, a community college affiliated with the university. He attended the college for two years and earned a 4.0 average every semester before Notre Dame accepted him. He entered his dream school at age twenty-six—eight years after graduating from high school.
With two years of sports eligibility remaining, he went out for football. And he made the team as a scrub, one of the warm bodies they put in practice to keep the good players sharp. But Rudy made the most of it. He worked hard, and after a year, he went from the bottom of the scrubs all the way up to sixth string—the top of the scrubs. His last year, he worked hard again. And in the final game of his final season, Rudy lived his dream by getting to play.
In the movie, Rudy Ruettiger gets in for only one play at the end of the game, and he sacks the quarterback. But that’s not how it really happened.
“In real life, I had two chances to get the quarterback,” says Rudy. “The first play, I didn’t get there in time. I was too anxious and didn’t execute the play. I failed.” But once again, Rudy didn’t let his failure make him a failure. He was determined to fail forward (Use words in your introduction and conclusion that help connect to the MPS of your sermon. Merida calls this raining).
“I knew this was the last chance I would ever get,” he explains. “When they snapped the ball, I wasn’t worried about failing. I’d done that already, and I knew why I had failed. That’s how you eliminate that fear. You keep learning until you have the confidence to perform when you have to ... When they snapped the ball for the last time, I put the moves I’d rehearsed in my mind on the guy over me and I got the quarterback.” Overjoyed, the team carried him off the field in celebration. Rudy says it’s the only time that’s happened to a player in the history of Notre Dame football.
Rudy failed but he was not a failure because he learned from his failures. He failed forward.