Before he was a Pro Football Hall of Famer, Joe Montana was a Notre Dame quarterback and teammate of Daniel Ruettiger, the inspiration for the movie Rudy. And now there’s a little bit of a controversy brewing over Montana’s disdain for the film.
Montana said on The Dan Patrick Show that no one was chanting Rudy’s name during the final game of Ruettiger’s Notre Dame career, which served as the climax of the movie. And he said that when his teammates famously carried Ruettiger off the field on their shoulders, it was more of a goof on their diminutive teammate than anything else.
“I won’t say it was a joke, but it was playing around,” Montana said.
Dan Patrick responded to that by saying, “You’re ruining it for me,” and now TMZ is making an issue of it.
TMZ quotes another Notre Dame teammate, Jay Achterhoff, as calling the movie “98% true” and being “disappointed that [Montana] wasn’t more supportive of Rudy.”
“Rudy was carried off the field that day . . . but not as a joke -- but because he finally got to play,” Achterhoff said. “You’ve never in your life seen a guy who wanted to be on the field more.”
The game in question took place 35 years ago, so it’s not surprising that different people remember the events differently. But suffice to say, Ruettiger has served as an inspiration for many, even if the Hollywood ending to Rudy was too good to be true.