PARIS – Sometimes a winner is a dreamer who just won’t quit.

Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger, immortalized in the 1992 film “Rudy,” kicked off Respect Week at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School Monday. He told a packed gym of students they can be anything they want to be, as long as they stay positive and believe in their dreams.

When he was growing up in Joliet, Ill., his grades were poor, and his athletic skills mediocre. But he had a dream, of entering the University of Notre Dame and playing football for the Fighting Irish.

His family and friends offered little support or encouragement, but he persevered, gained admittance to Notre Dame, and earned a spot on the Fighting Irish’s scout team. In the last few minutes of the final home game, he was allowed to play for the first time. With the stadium cheering him on, shouting “RU-DY, RU-DY,” he sacked the quarterback with 27 seconds left on the clock.

He is the only player in the school’s history to be carried off the field on his teammates’ shoulders.

“When you have courage you don’t allow other people to steal your dreams,” Ruettiger told the students, punctuating his talk with excerpts from the blockbuster film, projected on either side of the gym.

Ruettiger persevered after his college days. It took 10 years, but he convinced movie producers that his story would be an inspiration to others. And now, with his secretary-turned-wife handling the marketing, he is highly sought after as a motivational speaker throughout the country and the world.

He ranked the four C’s – character, courage, contribution and commitment – above earning a high grade point average in school.

When he was invited to the White House after the film was released, Ruettiger said, “never once did they ask me what my classes rank was, or my SATs.”

He told the students to get excited about the little things, and be willing to change and refine your goals along the way. Make the little things happen, and that will make the big things possible.

“You work on you, and you can have any dream you want. If you have a clear vision of what you want, you won’t allow opportunities to pass you by,” he said.

Attitude is everything, he said. Don’t allow friends to “clip your positive energy” by putting down your dreams, he said. And don’t take rejection in a negative way.

“Is it easy? No,” Ruettiger said. “Most people, they can see it, they can plan it, but most people don’t do it” because they fear rejection, and live in the past.

“Sometimes in life, you’ve got to stop, evaluate and fake it until you make it,” he said. “You define your own success, and you go after it,” Ruettiger said. “Get off the bench and in the game of life.”

Reuttiger’s appearance will be followed Tuesday by another nationally-known speaker, Dr. Bill Manning, who will give a talk about bullying. It is open to the public at 7 p.m. in the OHCHS auditorium.