Olawale Dada doesn’t want anyone feeling sorry for him.

Nor does he try to compare his story with that of a 3-foot-9-inch dwarf in Texas who plays wide receiver on his high school football team, or a place kicker in Ohio with Holt-Oram Syndrome, which is characterized by heart problems and skeletal abnormalities of the hands and arms.

The Shaw senior, who plays outside linebacker, did not have to overcome any type of physical adversity to be named a semifinalist for the High School Football Rudy Awards, named after former Notre Dame player Rudy Ruettiger, the main character in the popular sports movie Rudy.

The awards focus on players who display an uncanny ability to inspire their teammates, classmates and communities. Fifty semifinalists were chosen from high schools across the country, and Olawale is the only one from Georgia.

“I don’t think the Rudy Award is awarding you for being the saddest story,” Dada said.

“It’s about being persistent and never giving up. If it was for a sob story, I shouldn’t have been made a semifinalist.”

Culture shock Olawale overcame a different kind of adversity. A native of Nigeria, his cultural heritage became vulnerable when he and his family moved to the United States when he was 2 years old.

“I don’t share in American culture,” he said. “My family does not partake in a lot of the freedoms Americans have. I remember hanging out with my friends maybe twice in a month in my childhood. My parents were afraid to let me be a part of American society.”

Dada’s father, Olukayode, was stationed at Fort Benning from 2006 to 2008.

Because of the cultural differences, Olawale felt ostracized from peers his entire freshman year at Shaw.

“He was bullied,” said one of Olawale’s teachers, Romona Griffin. “He didn’t understand the slang. If somebody said, ‘That’s cool,’ he would say, ‘No, it feels hot.”’

Olukayode said he remembers Olawale coming home one day from elementary school crying. His father asked what was wrong.

“He said he wanted to change his name,” Olukayode said. “He said kids were making fun of it. Of course, I said no. I started to teach him about his heritage and all the great people who were named Olawale. He likes his name now.”

In his freshman year at high school, Olawale went through trials that his father said were because of peer pressure. Olawale was in danger of becoming like everyone else at school.

“A lot of the things I was trying to conform to were negative,” Olawale said. “I was hanging out with gangs, the bad kids … I realized that’s not what I am. I’m lucky I didn’t get caught up in that.”

Olawale often avoided trouble after that phase. His parents required him to come straight home after school and there were rigorous punishments that followed any troublemaking.

“We are naturally very strict with the upbringing of our children,” Olukayode said.

Griffin recalled one occasion in which she and Olawale’s parents discovered Dada had given a false email address, which the school sent progress reports for parents to view. “He came back the next Monday and said, ‘Mrs. Griffin, you can eat off my bathroom floor,” Griffin said. “I cleaned it with a toothbrush.’”

Hitting up the clubs Olawale found a way to form relationships with his classmates without conforming to American culture. His parents would only allow him to stay after school if he got involved in extracurricular activities.

“Joining clubs was my escape,” Olawale said. “I was never allowed out of the house or allowed to merge with society. Getting into clubs at Shaw was my ticket out. I did everything you can try at Shaw.”

That included football. Olawale started at linebacker beginning his sophomore year. This year, Shaw made the state playoffs for the first time since 2008.

“He leads by example,” Shaw head football coach Jamie Fox said. “He practices as hard or harder than anybody. A lot of the kids feed off of his work ethic. He’s a leader in the school, not just the football field.”

Dada had 101 tackles, including 67 solo, in his senior season and helped led Shaw to the playoffs.

“I believe actions say a lot more than words,” Olawale said. “I’ve tried the locker room speech before and it’s not what I’m good at. I think just doing well on the football field inspires people more than just talking about it.”

Along with football, Olawale also participated in the Muscogee County Model United Nations debate, is the editor of his school’s newspaper, a member of Toastmasters International, which develops public speaking and leadership skills, and volunteers in numerous other school and community organizations.

Olawale earned a full athletic scholarship to Wofford College in South Carolina to play football and aspires to be a journalist and eventually a politician.

“I have no fear about him moving out of the house and going to college and moving on with his life,” Olukayode said.

The other Rudy The Rudy Awards selection committee consists of 11 sports celebrities, including Drew Bledsoe, the Rudy Awards Chairman and former New England Patriots quarterback, former Dallas quarterback and three-time Super Bowl winner Troy Aikman, former New England linebacker and three-time Super Bowl champion Tedy Bruschi, former Seattle running back and NFL MVP Shaun Alexander, and former Indianapolis head coach Jim Mora Sr. A scholarship will also be awarded to the player who receives the most votes from fans.

Nov. 17 was Dada Day at Shaw. Students were encouraged to go online at www.highschoolrudyawards.com to vote for Olawale to become the fan favorite.

On Nov. 18, Olawale met Rudy — Rudy Allen, that is. Allen, who now resides in Columbus and works for the city government, was the Georgia Tech quarterback who got sacked by Ruettiger. Allen came to Shaw on the invitation of Griffin to meet Olawale and be interviewed for a video the school is entering into the Rudy Awards video contest.

Allen told Olawale about that day in 1975 in which Ruettiger made one of the most famous tackles in football history. With the game well in hand, Ruettiger saw his first play in the closing seconds after standing on the sidelines for four years.

“I didn’t know the story of this guy,” Allen said. “Every time we got the ball they started chanting ‘Rudy, Rudy.’ I was like, ‘why are they chanting my name?’”

Allen said Olawale’s story of his work ethic and overcoming adversity made him an appropriate candidate for the Rudy Award.

“He’s an interesting kid,” Allen said. “Going through the adversities of coming from another country to the U.S. has to be daunting.

“I plan to be a mentor to him. I plan to follow up with him and keep up with how he’s doing.”