Rudy Can’t Try out? No Room for Walk-ons as the NCAA settlement essentially ends the “Rudy” story for future generations starting now.
The American Dream woven in the minds of youth is the idea of playing college and pro sports. The potential for a young person, regardless of race, gender, or wealth to be successful through the pursuit of sport and academic excellence is important for the morale and culture of a nation. Fables such as the Ragged Dick stories glorified the virtues that aligned with what was good for the United States in the same manner that children’s books in Europe reminded kids to avoid running in the woods for fear of being eaten by a wolf. From a national and caring perspective, equity and opportunity in sport matters and is taught both in physical education classes and scholastic athletic teams, even being regulated by standards and rules set forth by national associations. Recent changes to rules and regulations made to comply with judicial rulings have eliminated the idea of a walk on in order to reduce their liability by having less athletes and making those that are under scholarship the only ones eligible for these fewer spots on teams. Though current athletes may be allowed on exemptions, a future Rudy would not be cut. A future Rudy would be hauled out of the facility by security and not allowed to tryouts. If you do not have a scholarship, you are not on a roster.
The bottom line is this makes college sports more elite. Perhaps some caring and bright administrators will find ways for someone to compete or “walk on” to qualify for a scholarship, however these actions make it clear that only players who qualify for one of the scholarship slots can be rostered. To play in practices or be part of any team function your chances of being a division one player just became more difficult for the average kid in America, just at a time when Womens Sports were growing and the NCAA is wrestling with the relatively new idea of making their student athletes professional athletes. In our earlier article we compared this rapid makeover to flying an airplane while building it. (Orr, 2025) From the perspective of both title nine and the Rudy loving parts of America, the analogy may be more like filling water into a swim pool after you already dove in, as athletes have already been told they are no longer welcome back.
