Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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IRISH ECHOES JIM LEFEBVRE 50 APRIL 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED C oach Frank Leahy, undoubtedly Notre Dame's sternest taskmaster, is supposed to have said, "Lads, you're not to miss practice unless your parents died … or you died." He was especially suspicious of play- ers who found a sudden interest in a spring sport, making them unavailable for the grind of spring football. But in the case of George Ratterman, Leahy took a different perspective, calling him "the greatest all-around athlete in the history of Notre Dame." Ratterman was one of a handful of Irish athletes — and the last — to earn a monogram in four sports: football, basketball, baseball and tennis. It was a precursor to a life filled with a variety of interests and pursuits. Ratterman came to Notre Dame in 1944 from St. Xavier High School, al- ready an athletic powerhouse in Cincin- nati. There, he had been a star athlete in the same four sports and had such an impact that he was responsible for the school changing its sports nickname. They had always been the Conquer- ors, until Ratterman's senior year of football in 1943. With World War II raging, the Cincinnati Post published a story highlighting Ratterman as the best local quarterback, slinging passes to his classmate Charley Wolf. "Ratterman Tops Aerial Bombers, Wolf Snags 'Em." The headline stuck, and before long ev- eryone was calling St. X the Bombers, the nickname they still carry today. Ratterman guided St. X to its first undisputed Greater Cincinnati High School League championship in 1943. In the season finale, he hit on several key passes, boomed a few long punts and made a key interception. Ratterman joined an Irish football program that was flowing with talent and coming off a national championship in 1943. It was said that Notre Dame's second unit, had it been its own team, would be ranked No. 2 in the country, behind only the Irish regulars. Ratterman earned football mono- grams in 1945 and 1946, serving as the primary backup quarterback behind first Frank Dancewicz and then eventual Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Lujack. Ratterman was always at the ready. In several games in 1946, he got the Irish moving when Lujack hadn't. In the scoreless tie with Army — a No. 1 versus No. 2 classic battle — on Nov. 9, 1946, Notre Dame had the ball close to the Army goal line in the closing min- utes, but Lujack couldn't nudge the Irish across. It became a popular opinion af- terward that Ratterman could have done a better job in reaching the end zone. In the season finale at Southern Cal, Ratterman saw plenty of action and came through brilliantly. With Notre Dame clinging to a 6-0 lead in the second quarter, an Irish drive seemed stalled by a penalty. The South Bend Tribune reported: "That didn't bother Ratterman & Co., however, because on the next play George dropped a perfect pass into big Leon Hart's arms at the goal line and the freshman end stepped over for the touchdown." Later in the game, a Ratterman pass to Floyd Simmons gained 49 yards to the USC 11. "Then came the city slicker play engi- neered by Ratterman and in which [Coy] McGee wound up with the ball back of the Trojan goal line before anyone, but most of all the Trojans, knew where the ball was or who had it," wrote the newspaper. The 26-6 victory secured the national championship for Notre Dame and clearly marked Ratterman as a quar- terback equal to anyone in the country. In basketball, Ratterman was inserted into the starting lineup during the 1945- 46 season in place of future Irish coach Johnny Dee. He helped the hoopsters to a 17-4 record that season. In June 1947, Ratterman made head- lines with the surprising move of giving up his final season of college eligibility to sign a pro contract with the Buffalo Bison (soon to be renamed the Bills) of the upstart All-America Football Con- ference for a reported $11,000. The deal was orchestrated by family friend Clem Crowe, the 1925 Notre Dame football captain who was head football coach at Xavier University while Ratterman was at St. Xavier High School, and coached Notre Dame basketball in 1944-45. Later that summer, Leahy assembled the College All-Star team for the annual meeting with the defending NFL cham- pion in the College All-Star Classic, the annual showcase in Chicago created by Notre Dame alum and Chicago Tribune sports editor Arch Ward. And who did Leahy pick as his quarterback, over other candidates who had played much more in college? George Ratterman, of course. The pro champion Chicago Bears were led by All-Pro quarterback Sid Luck- man. One preview of the game noted: "The All-Stars will counter with George Ratterman of Notre Dame, a nimble, smooth ball handler who can throw as accurately as Luckman." Ratterman delivered, guiding the All- Stars to a shocking 16-0 victory over the Bears before a record crowd of 105,840 which packed Soldier Field. He led three scoring drives, including throwing a touchdown pass to fellow Irish product John Zilly. Notre Dame's Jim Mello ran for the other score. Starting for the Bills that autumn, not Colorful George Ratterman Made an Impact Everywhere He Went After serving as a backup quarterback at Notre Dame, Ratterman set records with the Buffalo Bills of the All-America Football Conference. PHOTO COURTESY OF BUFFALOSTORIES.COM