In pursuit of inspiration, I asked my friends on social media “what is your favorite, most inspiring, sports movie and scene.” I received a number of responses, and most popular seems to be Rudy, the 1993 film about Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger’s dream of playing football for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. In my opinion, a great choice.
Rudy inspires us because it is the classic underdog story. It is the story of an undersized kid’s will to play in arguably one of the best college football programs of the time. Rudy strikes a nerve in all of us—perhaps because we have all likewise aspire to do something that is out our reach. Unfortunately, we rarely accomplish what Rudy did—but the possibility remains.
My favorite scene in the movie is when he tells an offensive lineman, Mateus: “If I cool it out there, then I won’t be helping you guys win next week’s game. Got it?” This speaks volumes about passion and purpose. Rudy wanted to play football not for himself (though at times—and this was most evident when he faltered—he did). Rather he wanted to play for the Fighting Irish. He cared less about himself and more for the team and the idea of “team.” This is what inspires me most about this movie.
We all need an attitude of personal drive. It is what makes us all better. Unfortunately, there is a tendency to not push too hard as to not upset our teammates, coworkers, friends, etc. We are afraid of making someone “look bad” or being perceived as saying that our team, program, organization, etc. is not good. Our pushing for growth, however, does not say we are currently not good. Pushing—driving for constant improvement—recognizes that we can always get better.
When Rudy spoke of having to “prove” himself, Fortune responded: “Oh, you are so full of crap. You’re five foot nothin’, a hundred and nothin’ and hardly have a spec of athletic ability, and you hung in with the best college football team in the land for two years, and you were also going to walk out of here with a degree from the University of Notre Dame. In this lifetime, you don’t have to prove nothing to nobody except yourself, and, after what you gone through, if you haven’t done that by now, it ain’t gonna never happen, now go on back.” To how many of us is he speaking? Our best efforts may not bring us everything we want, but so what. We have to get over the idea that hard work has to be “rewarded”. (By the way, hard work is always awarded, just not always in the ways we most desire.) We don’t have to “prove” ourselves to anyone but ourselves. So, let’s stop trying to please others.
Be your best today; be better tomorrow.
Carpe momento!
Image source: Rudy