Joe Montana debunks some myths about 'Rudy'

• OneBuckeye

  

  http://content.usatoday.com/communities/gameon/post/2010/09/joe-montana-notre-dame-rudy/1
  

  Some say you don't mess with a good story. Some say you always tell the truth, no matter what. When it comes to the movie Rudy,Joe Montana belongs to the latter group, even if it does mess with the football lore of his college, Notre Dame.
  
  Montana, on the Dan Patrick Show today, said the movie about Fighting Irish walkon Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger getting into the final game of the 1975 season got a few things wrong.
  
  Like the part about the crowd chanting "Rudy" at game's end, in hopes he would get in. And also the part about coach Dan Devine letting Rudy suit up only after a parade of players came to his office and offered to give up their jerseys to Rudy.
  
  "It's a movie, remember," Montana said. "Not all that's true . . . The crowd wasn't chanting. No one threw in their jerseys."
  
  Montana said that at that time Notre Dame set its schedule so that all the seniors would be able to play in the final home game.
  
  "He got in. He did get a sack," Montana said, while adding that the triumphant scene where Rudy gets carried off was an exaggeration.
  
  "The guys carried him off, kind of playing around," Montana said. "I won't say it's a joke, but playing around."
  
  But Montana did say Rudy's effort was genuine. "He worked his butt of to get where he was and do what he did."

  Audio from TMZ http://www.tmz.com/2010/09/08/joe-montana-rudy-ruttiger-movie-notre-dame-not-true-fake-football/
  
  He sounds like a bitter old man.
• OneBuckeye

  

  [video=youtube;-z950ovP7N4][/video]
• grodt

  

  Dan Devine has already said that the players never laid their jerseys down in front of him and if they had they would have been sitting the next game. In the end, it was a Hollywood movie. I'm sure people realize that some parts are over dramatized to make it look better.
• THE4RINGZ

  

  Why does Montana bring this up now? I am pretty sure most of us realize there was some embellishment in the movie. It was still a pretty good movie.
• Little Danny

  

  I've read before that the movie mischaracterized Devine's relationship with Rudy. From what I've read, Devine wanted to get Rudy into the game. He was not nearly the jerk the as portrayed in the film.
• killer_ewok

  

  Thanks for the bulletin, Joe. I think a lot of people knew this stuff years ago. It was "based" on a true story but they definitely jazzed it up a lot for the big screen.
  
  As was said, it's still a great movie (IMO).
• vball10set

  what movie based on a real life story doesn't take liberty's with the script ? I thought it was a good movie, and after I watched it I know who Rudy is, so it's all good
• Rotinaj

  

  THE4RINGZ;476747 wrote:Why does Montana bring this up now? I am pretty sure most of us realize there was some embellishment in the movie. It was still a pretty good movie.

  
  Montana didnt bring it up. Patrick said "you were at Notre Dame the same time as Rudy, right?" And then Patrick asked a couple questions about the movie and Montana answered them. He did sound like he was bitter about it though.
• Fab4Runner

  

  This doesn't change the fact that it's a good movie. I think that's the reason why a few people I know are ND fans because I can't come up with anything else.
• jmog

  Bob Golic played at ND at the time and played DT in the NFL (including for the Browns). He is the older brother of Mike Golic (Mike and Mike in the morning on ESPN radio). Oh yeah, and most of us 90s brats remember Bob Golic on Saved By the Bell: The College Years.
  
  Bob also is on talk radio in the Akron area on 100.1 FM in the afternoons. He has also mentioned the exact same things as Joe Montana when asked questions about Rudy.
  
  Bob said the "laying down jerseys" was made up.
  He said that the crowd wasn't chanting "Rudy".
  Devine's relationship with Rudy and the rest of the players was much better than portrayed in the film.
  He said that the one thing the movie got exactly right was Rudy's effort and determination.
  
  I don't take Joe's comments as "bitter old man", I take them as answering the questions put in front of him, just as Bob Golic has done.
• Con_Alma

  I am not a Notre Dame fan. A couple of years a go I attended the Navy / Notre Dame game. First win over the Irish by the Midshipmen in 60 years!!!! The workers and the fans were very impressive. The culture and atmosphere created by the people made me appreciate Notre Dame football. Congratulatory remarks even through their disappointment made me respect the fans much more than I ever did prior.
  
  Walking in with the Navy crowd and parents and receiving the "welcome to Notre Dame" gesture from every worker there changed my former view. It wasn't cocky. It was pride...win or lose.
  
  I'm still not a Notre Dame fan but at least I think I get it know.
  
  The movie Rudy gave some insight into that culture. I never took the movie for a factual documentary but rather an entertainment piece that rose from his existence there.
• Rotinaj

  

  You have to listen to how he said the answers. He gave a condescending chuckle before answering a couple of the questions, and just sounded bitter.
• krambman

  

  None of this is actually news. All of this info has been out pretty much since the movie was released.
  
  Just like with Remember the Titans where most of the dramatic stuff about the story line, and some of the characters too, are made up.
  
  At least with Friday Night Lights pretty much everything happened, they just changed the order of events.
• gorocks99

  

  Yeah, next you're gonna tell me that the TC Williams Titans did NOT, in fact, win the state championship on a last second 80-yard run play against Marshall.
  
  What's that you say? TC Williams actually won the state championship 27-0 over Andrew Lewis HS? Oh. Carry on then.
• OneBuckeye

  

  Rotinaj;476784 wrote:You have to listen to how he said the answers. He gave a condescending chuckle before answering a couple of the questions, and just sounded bitter.

  
  This.
• Little Danny

  

  gorocks99;476806 wrote:Yeah, next you're gonna tell me that the TC Williams Titans did NOT, in fact, win the state championship on a last second 80-yard run play against Marshall.
  
  What's that you say? TC Williams actually won the state championship 27-0 over Andrew Lewis HS? Oh. Carry on then.

  Apparently, many have claimed the racial tension was also exaggerated. TC Williams had alread been integrated for six years the year in question. Gary and Julius were friends, but the were not as close as portrayed in the movie. Their freindship played no role in overcoming racial animosity with the team and the community. Also, Gary Bertier played in the state championship. He did not have the car accident until after the season.
• krambman

  

  Little Danny;476814 wrote:Apparently, many have claimed the racial tension was also exaggerated. TC Williams had alread been integrated for six years the year in question. Gary and Julius were friends, but the were not as close as portrayed in the movie. Their freindship played no role in overcoming racial animosity with the team and the community. Also, Gary Bertier played in the state championship. He did not have the car accident until after the season.

  
  Sunshine and Louie were characters invented for the film also. Basically Disney had an idea, then searched the country to find a place that fit their story so that the movie could be "based on a true story." The then took what really happened to TC Williams and made their story fit around the actual events, with a lot of artistic license. There's a website that the players on that team run to dispel some of the fallacies in the movie. I don't think many of them are happy about how most of the stuff in the film was made up.
• Tiernan

  I've always maintained Rudy was a second rate flick not worthy at all of being on anyone's "GOAT - Sports Movies" list. And when one of the Great Domer Icons - Joe Mo himself confirms it was pure BS - this should finally put the final nail in that coffin.
• Con_Alma

  Why? ...because part of it was fabricated? It was very entertaining.
• Tiernan

  Con_Alma;476880 wrote:Why? ...because part of it was fabricated? It was very entertaining.

  
  No...because it was about Notre Dame...don't you ever read the crap I post?
• Con_Alma

  I guess not.
  
  I would suggest the number of people that appreciated it as entertainment give it credence....Notre Dame or not.
• cats gone wild

  Montana should just say, man Im old. I played in the black and white television days and Im just now bringing this up
• se-alum

  

  I heard Montana's interview, and he did seem quite bitter for whatever reason.
• Steel Valley Football

  Ross Browner from Warren was an All-American for ND when Rudy played. He told me they used to ass-rape Rudy in the showers after practice. I think they left that part out of the movie though.
• Def Leopard

  Was at the game last week vs Purdue. Before the game we were outside the stadium talking to some friends when Joe and his wife hurriedly walked by. A few guys called out his name and he didn't acknowledge them in the slightest. We all thought it was a little rude, but I guess when you get the star treatment all the time it probably begins to wear on you.