Micheal_Rudy_Essay

Michael and Rudy Essay “Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal” – Henry Ford. In both “Heart of a champion” and “Rudy” there are many examples of how the main characters Michael and Rudy followed their goals. Whether it was long hours after practice working out, or working on their studies, they were always working towards their goals and did not take failure as something bad, but something to learn off of. Michael and Rudy are alike by loving football, having negative influences, and having motivation. First, Rudy and Michael both love football, and is their dream to play it. One reason Rudy likes football is their dream to play it. One reason Rudy likes football is he wants to play football at Notre Dame, the team he has grown up loving since he was a child. Rudy also has perseverance and wants to achieve his goal. Lastly, Rudy does not have the grades for Notre Dame so he goes to Holy Cross and studies to get accepted and play football. “I’ll study twenty hours a day if I have to.”(Rudy) This shows how much Rudy wants to play football. Like Rudy, Michael also loves football more than anything. First of all, his main goal is to play football at the high school level. Next, he has the drive to get better at the sport that he loves. He also takes it upon himself to bet better, which shows his absolute love for the sport. “At the start of the next season, Michael ran the opening mile faster than anyone.” This quote shows that Michael has the drive to get better at the sport he loves. Even though Michael and Rudy both love football, they also had many negative influences. Next, both Rudy and Michael have negative influences. One negative influence that Rudy has is his family thinks he can’t make it because of his size. Another negative influence Rudy has is us Girlfriend does not think he has a chance at Notre Dame. The next person that does not believe in Rudy is his Civics teacher, who does not even let him attend the fieldtrip at Notre Dame. “Rudy, you don’t have the grades” (civics teacher) Like Rudy, Michael also had negative influences that held him back. First, Michael was a sickly child growing up which kept him from playing. The coach was another negative influence because he did not play him the first year. The last negative influence was that Steve did not understand what Michael was doing, and why he was putting so much work into football. “Their son, who had a sickly childhood, really wanted to play football.” This shows Michael was sick as a child which held him back from his goals. Through all of Michael and Rudy’s negative influences, they still were able to find some motivation. Lastly, both Michael and Rudy had Motivation. The first reason Rudy has motivation is his family loves Notre Dame. His family loves Notre Dame, and it is the only team they watch in their home. Next, Rudy’s best friend Pete motivated him to follow his dreams, and at the time was the only person who believed in Rudy. Pete understood Rudy, and was his best friend. Lastly, Fortune tells Rudy not to quit, and that he has come too far. He knows if Rudy quits he will regret it. “In this lifetime you don’t have to prove nuthin to nobody except yourself.” Fortune made the mistake of quitting, and does not want Rudy to have to go through that. Michael also had motivation. Fist, Michael’s football coach gave him workouts to do to help him improve and motivate him to get better. Next, Michael’s failure motivates him to work harder and get better. At the beginning of the story, Michael could not even run the mile, after his hard work, he could run it faster than anyone. Lastly, the teams team captain Steve, gave the most productive player award to Michael, which gave him the motivation to keep at his goals. “He wondered if I might beef up the program since it was becoming too easy.” This sure motivation to get better is what made Michael the player he was.