SOUTH BEND, Ind. - The Rev. James Riehle, a longtime chaplain of Irish athletic teams who appeared in the movie "Rudy," died Wednesday. He was 83.

He died at Holy Cross House on the Notre Dame campus following a brief illness, the university said.

Riehle, a native of Saginaw, Mich., served as executive director of the school's Monogram Club from 1978-2002. He began as the chaplain in 1966, when his first game was the famous 10-10 tie with Michigan State.

He also played the team chaplain in "Rudy" and appeared in an Adidas commercial in which he asked former Irish quarterback Joe Montana, "What have you been doing since you left the university?"

A 1949 Notre Dame graduate, Riehle studied theology at Holy Cross College in Washington, D.C., and was ordained as a priest in Notre Dame's Sacred Heart Church in 1964.

He served at Sacred Heart Parish in New Orleans and returned to Notre Dame in 1966 as assistant dean of students and rector of Sorin Hall. He also was dean of students in 1967-73.