Rudy! Rudy! Rudy!

This is a new piece commissioned by the Sons of Baseball to be presented to Daniel Rudy Ruettiger. The event was their annual banquet held mid-May.

Rudy is so cool. He really is every man.

Here are quick Rudy facts:
* He is the only player to be carried off the field by his team at Notre Dame Stadium
* He had an assist on the famous tackle
* The quarterback he tackled was ALSO NAMED RUDY!

This was a fun project. The concept was to
create a piece that shows a good approximation of the moment Rudy made the famous tackle. The game was at the end of the 1975 season between Notre Dame and Georgia Tech. The project also called for a closer depiction of the reality of the moment as apposed to some aspects of what you see in the movie.

I asked Rudy about some of the little discrepancies that I noticed while studying the existing photos and video and the movie. For example, the quarterback in the photo is wearing #9 while the movie has him wearing #19. He said that there were contractual issues that would have cost a lot of money had they showed him wearing the correct number. I also asked how come they didn't show the actual progression of the plays that he was in. So, the scene in the movie shows Rudy sliding under the half back, and make an unassisted tackle. In the real play, Rudy has help on the tackle, but there's way more to the story.

The short of it is that he was in on four plays. The kickoff, then 1st and 2nd down. 1st down (Rudy told me that they filmed this down but it was cut out to keep momentum to the final play) was the same as the second down ... a long bomb. In first down, Rudy comes around to the left side of the play and the half-back pushed him to the outside and -- supposedly -- out of the play. But Rudy kept on the play and nearly tackled the quarterback.

The play that made it in the movie, but not emphasized well enough, was that Rudy juked the half-back to the outside and then cut underneath him to the inside. This collapsed the pocket and forced the quarterback to scramble to his left. Then, he dove forward and grabbed the quarterback at his waist and then was supported immediately by a lineman and together they brought him down.

So, Rudy not only made the tackle, but he ALSO took the offense out of their called play first in order to make the play.

This painting pulls from images that were taken (one) and then film footage.
It is a somewhat close re-creation of the play, and includes the actual player numbers, the full arm protectors, and even the shoes are correct.

Here is a cool video tribute made to Rudy that you (at this point) is not found on YouTube.com. 
http://todayishistory.com/rudy/

When you have a moment, please take a look at the Sons of Baseball website, as well. They provide an experience at a baseball park with a college or pro team, which is an activity that is similar to the Make-a-Wish Foundation. There is 100% pass-through to the kids and their families. Such a worthy children's charity.