Tim Ruddy (born April 27, 1972) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

offensive lineman. He was born in

Dunmore, Pennsylvania Dunmore is a borough in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, United States, adjoining Scranton. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania and was settled in 1835 and incorporated in 1862. Extensive anthracite coal, brick, stone, and silk interests had ...

. Tim Ruddy was a

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

for the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team p ...

from

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...

to 2003. Tim went on to acting and writing as well as working on the movie Ballistic in the art department.

High school

* Named honorable mention

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

by '' Sporting News'' as a Senior * Selected as 15th best prospect in the nation by '' Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' * Earned the state championship in the shot put as a senior * Earned two

letters Letter, letters, or literature may refer to: Characters typeface * Letter (alphabet), a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech; any of the symbols of an alphabet. * Letterform, the graphic form of a letter of the alphabe ...

as two-way tackle,

long snapper In American football, the long snapper (or deep snapper) is a center on special teams whose duty is to snap the football over a longer distance, typically around 15 yards during punts, and 7–8 yards during field goals and extra point att ...

and

kicker Kicker or The Kicker may refer to: Sports * Placekicker, a position in American and Canadian football * ''Kicker'' (sports magazine), in Germany * Kicker, the German colloquial term for an association football player * Kicker, the word used i ...

* Lettered three times in track, performing in the discus and shot put * Graduated from Dunmore High School with perfect 4.0

GPA Grading in education is the process of applying standardized measurements for varying levels of achievements in a course. Grades can be assigned as letters (usually A through F), as a range (for example, 1 to 6), as a percentage, or as a numbe ...

* Nicknamed 'Big Master'

College career

Ruddy attended The

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic university, Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend, Indiana, South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin fo ...

from 1990–1994. He was a four-year letterman and two year starter during this time. He was selected as a second-team All-America and first-team All-Independent by ''

The Football News ''The Football News'', founded in 1939, was a weekly tabloid newspaper covering collegiate and professional football. The publication is designated by the NCAA as a "major selector" of college football national championships A national cham ...

'' and the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...

. Ruddy also posted a perfect 4.0 GPA his junior and senior years at Notre Dame. He graduated with 3.86 GPA. He holds a

B.S. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, an ...

. He also earned post-graduate scholarships from the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

and the

National Football Foundation The National Football Foundation (NFF) is a non-profit organization to promote and develop amateur American football on all levels throughout the United States and "developing the qualities of leadership, sportsmanship, competitive zeal and the dr ...

. He is also a member of Tau Beta Pi (National Engineering Honor Society).

Professional career

Ruddy was the second-round draft choice (65th overall) of Miami in

. Ruddy started 140 games of his 156 games played, in which all 16 of those non-starts were his

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

year, but he saw time in all of them. During most of his career, he was the center for Dan Marino, who has held almost every meaningful NFL passing record and is widely recognized as one of the greatest quarterbacks in football history. In 2001, Ruddy was named to his first and only

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

. He was originally named a second alternate, but replaced the injured

Tom Nalen Thomas Andrew Nalen (born May 13, 1971) is a former American football center who played for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). He was born in Boston and raised in Foxborough, Massachusetts. College career Nalen was a th ...

of the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

. Ruddy was the first Miami center to be selected to the Pro Bowl since Hall of Fame center

Dwight Stephenson Dwight Eugene Stephenson (born November 20, 1957) is an American former professional football player who was a center for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL) from 1980 to 1987. He played college football for the Alabama C ...

in 1987. The last few years of Ruddy's career were plagued with knee problems and his playing time was limited. Ruddy was released by Miami following the 2003 season. It was rumored he talked to a few teams after his departure from Miami, but did not sign with any team. Ruddy was selected as one of the top 40 Miami Dolphin players of all time, and was named as a second team offensive line selection to the Pennsylvania Football News All-Century Team.

Filmography

1993 Gettysburg Maj. Charles Marshall 1997-1999 Glenroe Oliver O.'Driscoll 2001 Ballykissangel Hackett 2003 Gods and Generals Pvt. McMillan 2007 W.C. Joe 2019 79 Parts: Directors Cut Bomber 2020. I Know This Much Is True Robocop

External links

The Pennsylvania Football News All-Century Team

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruddy, Tim 1972 births Living people American Conference Pro Bowl players American football centers Miami Dolphins players Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players Players of American football from Pennsylvania Sportspeople from Scranton, Pennsylvania