On the “B” side of the hit, there is always another story.
Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger is the world’s most famous walk-on/scout team player. The 5-foot-6, 165-pound defensive end insinuated himself into the pages of Notre Dame football lore and inspired a sports movie that usually gets listed among the top 20 or so best of all time.
The payoff, in both the movie and real life, comes when Rudy finally gets on the field for his one and only play and, as if in a dream, he gets in on a sack. His teammates carry him off on their shoulders and goosebumps erupt all around.
That single play 40 years ago coincidentally came against Georgia Tech, which returns to South Bend on Saturday for a date with Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish have no miniature linemen lying in wait this time.
What about the quarterback on the other end of that mythic sack in 1975?
His name was Rudy, too.
And once in a rare while, when the two storied old programs intersect on a Saturday, some newspaper guy may call Rudy Allen just out of mild curiosity.
“Ah, man, I don’t want to talk about that little bitty white boy tackling me,” he told one such caller earlier this week, barely able to get out the words over a deep belly laugh.
On the flip side of the Rudy saga, the other Rudy has a pretty good time with being the footnote to this bit of football legend, being like one of those Internet Movie Database trivia entries to the larger plot.
Even if between the two, Allen was the real athlete, a 6-4 player who was able to transition from drop-back passer to wishbone quarterback under coach Pepper Rodgers at Tech. He and Danny Myers split time with the Yellow Jackets.
And even if he had his own compelling stories to tell, a kid from Kendrick High in Columbus who would be the successor to Eddie McAshan, the first black quarterback to start at a major, predominantly white Southern university.
No, he’s known as the guy who was tackled by Rudy.
“People still talk about that. And we laugh about it all the time,” Allen said.
By the time Rudy got on the field, Tech had fully accepted its 24-3 defeat that day at Notre Dame Stadium. Allen would get no favors from his offensive line or from his backfield blocker as he rolled left to attempt one last pass. It was a team effort to supply Rudy with the moment that made the movie — and the lifetime of fame that came with it — possible.
“We were beaten handily and beaten down,” Allen said. “We were running that wishbone and running into the likes of Ross Browner and Willie Fry on every play. We just wanted to get off that field, get on the plane and get back to Atlanta.”
Allen didn’t know quite what to make of the Irish’s celebration afterward. Like he said, he just wanted to get home. And today, knowing full well the impact of that moment, he begrudges no one.
“He made a play, give him that,” he said.
Allen’s playing career was erratic. Rodgers came along in his sophomore year and changed systems — Allen adapted but it cost him playing time. Tech went 25-19-1 over the span of his stay on the Flats. “That experience taught me that in life, everything won’t go your way. I was a little frustrated there,” he said. (He remains, however, a committed Tech fan, hopeful on this Saturday that Justin Thomas can out-duel Notre Dame’s backup, DeShone Kizer).
A diabetic, Allen went to camp with the Pittsburgh Steelers as a wide receiver. Between health issues and the Steelers’ formidable roster, he lasted but briefly.
“I figure I didn’t make it in the pros because there was something for me to do here in Columbus,” he said.
Allen returned home, built his family and made a career as a human-relations manager for the Char-Broil company. After retirement he devoted more time to the real family business, the ministry (his father, wife, two sons and four siblings are all involved). Turning Point Christian Ministries in Columbus is his calling.
And, yes, the two Rudys have met since that fateful afternoon in South Bend.
It happened nine years ago when Ruettiger was imported to speak to a county high school football event. They introduced Allen at the same time and, when he came up front, the two briefly reprised their old roles. One Rudy locked on to the other in a comical pantomime.
But, no, the little guy didn’t bring him down this time.
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