Why Notre Dame legend Rudy Ruettiger has a soft spot for Michigan State
The real-life inspiration for Rudy credits a former Columbia Pictures chairman who attended MSU with giving his story its first Hollywood backing
Just outside Notre Dame Stadium before Michigan State’s game against the Fighting Irish, I unexpectedly came across Rudy Ruettiger.
I introduced myself, and Rudy spent a few minutes talking with me. What followed was a conversation about his surprising appreciation for Michigan State, the Spartan who helped bring his story to Hollywood, and the message he wanted to share with MSU fans.
He also signed a photo of himself, addressed it to all Spartans fans, and asked that I share it with you all. So here it is:
Photo credit: David Harns/Spartans Illustrated
Rudy Ruettiger may be forever associated with Notre Dame, but the man whose story became one of the most recognizable sports movies ever made has a special appreciation for Michigan State.
And it begins with the Spartan who helped get Rudy, the movie, made.
Ruettiger told Spartans Illustrated that he loves Michigan State because Frank Price, the Columbia Pictures executive who gave the movie its initial studio backing, was a Spartan. Ruettiger recalled Price committing $25 million to greenlight the project.
The broad outline of that connection checks out, although the movie's path from approval to the screen was more complicated than a single greenlight.
Price attended Michigan State from 1949 to 1951 before transferring to Columbia University. He eventually became one of Hollywood's most influential studio executives, serving as president, chairman, and CEO of Columbia Pictures during separate tenures and also leading Universal Pictures.
His resume included approving or overseeing films such as Gandhi, Tootsie, The Karate Kid, Ghostbusters, Boyz n the Hood, and Groundhog Day. He was also the executive who rescued the script for Back to the Future after it had repeatedly been rejected elsewhere.
In 1991, producer Robert Fried sold the Rudy project to Columbia Pictures while Price was chairman of the studio. That gave Ruettiger's long-running effort to bring his story to the screen its first major studio commitment.
Price left Columbia in October 1991, however, and the studio's new leadership subsequently placed the project into turnaround, allowing another studio to acquire it. TriStar Pictures revived the movie in 1992 and gave the final approval that sent it into production.
Published accounts place the movie's eventual production budget at approximately $12 million to $13 million. Ruettiger's reference to $25 million appears to describe the size of Columbia's original commitment as he remembers it, rather than the amount ultimately spent making the finished film.
The result was the 1993 movie starring Sean Astin, which dramatized Ruettiger's pursuit of his dream to attend Notre Dame and play football for the Fighting Irish. It earned $22.8 million during its original domestic theatrical run, but its cultural reach ultimately extended far beyond its initial box-office performance.
Three decades later, Rudy remains a staple of sports culture and a story synonymous with persistence. The American Film Institute ranked it No. 54 on its list of the 100 most inspiring American movies, and ESPN viewers once ranked it among the greatest sports films of the previous 25 years.
For Ruettiger, the journey that brought his story to millions included a consequential assist from someone whose own journey passed through East Lansing.
That is why one of Notre Dame's most famous figures still has a soft spot for the Spartans.
