The other day I had the opportunity to listen and meet the real Rudy that the movie "Rudy" was made after. He is just what you would expect from a guy raised in a steel worker family. The movie is also a microcosm, even how the movie was even produced. He had the same “never give up” and positive attitude that is reflected in the movie. The impressive thing is, Rudy isn’t about being a Heisman trophy winner, an all-American team, or even recruited for the team. It’s about knowing what you want and going after it. The "How bad do you want it?" scenario. This is the same determination it took to get someone in Hollywood interested in doing the film. He targeted the guy who made Hoosiers, David Anspaugh, figuring he would get it (Another great movie if you haven’t seen it). Rudy tried for two years to get in front of this guy to share the story and he had been put off and put off. Rudy talks about sneaking into the movie studio and how to get onto the film sets and past security. Finally, the director got cornered and set up a lunch meeting and of course did not show up. Rudy was at the diner with a friend and they were talking about the film and meeting this director. After a three hour wait, there was a mailman who had overheard them talking and said “are you looking for David Anspaugh? Well, he lives just down the street. I deliver his mail.” So, the mailman showed him where David Auspaugh lived and Rudy knocked on the door. He opened the door, Rudy said "Hey, you are late!". They spent time together on the movie but it still didn’t get started for another two years. Now that is persistence! I know I’ve never been that persistent on anything. I love helping people with their insurance and investments, but I’ve never been that obsessive. But it does give me pause when I think of things in my life and how badly I want something.
