College football may be a more popular sport to watch on TV than its sister rival, NFL football. And it also has a strong history, but of all the college teams that have lent themselves to that history, there is one team whose history towers above all others. That college is the University of Notre Dame, and their football team has a very storied pedigree, and their name is Fighting Irish.
The history of the Fighting Irish football team dates back to the year 1887, when the team played its first game and would also suffer its first loss to Michigan State. The team would realize its first victory a year later, in 1888, against the Harvard football team. All in all, prior to the early 20th century, Notre Dame had a record that included 31 wins, 15 losses, and 4 ties. This was accomplished between 1887 and the end of the year 1899. This was just the beginning of what was to come for the Fighting Irish.
As Notre Dame and its football team entered the 20th century, college football grew in popularity. The introduction of the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States (IAAUS) brought a consistent approach to the way college football was to be played. Finally, the IAAUS became known as the NCAA in the year 1910. During this time, Notre Dame would continue to improve on their winning efforts on the field by again defeating Michigan. It is interesting that after their second loss at the hands of Notre Dame, Michigan stubbornly refused to play the Fighting Irish and would not face them again for 33 years.
By the end of the 1912 college football season, they would be a dominant force in college football, racking up a winning season. His record for that year included 108 wins, 31 losses, and 13 ties to finish his season. Notre Dame’s history includes a long list of inspiring football coaches. Some of the names of these coaches include the names of Knute Rockne, whose story of player George Gipp, nicknamed “the Gipper”, prompted the phrase “win one for the gipper” in a halftime speech to his team when they needed to hear something. that would bolster his spirit and cause the defeat of an Army football team that up to that point had an undefeated season. Other names include Frank Leahy, Dan Devine, Lou Holtz and probably one of the most memorable names, Ara Parseghian.
Parseghian, would have a ride on The player named Daniel Ruettiger, who was nicknamed “Rudy” of what was then part of the Notre Dame scout team, donned a regular uniform after Parseghian’s players insisted on this due to Ruettiger’s dogged determination and heart during the Fighting Irish’s 1974 season turned into an opportunity for Ruettiger to get one last chance to play in a home game that season. Ruettiger would be put in the game for only two plays at defensive end. No small feat for Ruettiger, who stood at 5’6″ and weighed in at a total weight of 165 pounds. To his credit, despite what could only be seen as an impossible mission, Rudy would sack the quarterback on the second play. Field for Georgia Tech, Rudy Allen.
Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger would forever be a part of Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team history as his life story would be translated into a movie called “Rudy” and that movie would become an instant classic and story. of inspiration that is still viewed today with much reverence.