Blue and Gold Illustrated

April 2025

Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football

Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1533229

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 50 of 55

BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM APRIL 2025 51 yet 21 years old, Ratterman came out firing. He led the team to an 8-4-2 re- cord by throwing 22 touchdown passes, a pro record for a rookie that stood for more than a half-century until broken by Peyton Manning in 1998. In a 31-14 win over the New York Yankees, his 294 yards passing broke a league record held by Otto Graham. During the 1948 season, Ratterman found himself in the Bills' doghouse due to outside activities. One week, he made his debut as a pianist at a pop concert in Buffalo and appeared as a commentator on WBEN-TV prior to the week's college games. Team management wanted Rat- terman to focus only on playing football, but he was forever gaining fame as a per- former of all kinds, and as a jokester. In 1949, Ratterman led the league in passing percentage at 57.9. In 1950-51, he played for the Yanks, then spent five years with the Cleveland Browns, one of the AAFC teams absorbed into the NFL in 1950. He led the NFL with 22 touchdown passes in 1950 and led the Browns to the NFL championship in 1954 and 1955. In 1956, the forward-thinking Browns under Hall of Fame coach Paul Brown developed a closed-circuit radio system which they used to relay play calls to a special helmet worn by Ratterman. "Will it make any difference that you have the receiver in my bad ear?" quipped the quarterback. A leg injury later that season ended Ratterman's playing days. As a pro, he threw for 10,473 yards and 91 touchdowns. Ratterman's post-football life re- flected his wide range of interests. He had returned to Notre Dame for a law degree and served as general counsel for the AFL Players Association in the 1960s. In 1961, he was elected sheriff of Campbell County, Kentucky, and with the cooperation of U.S. Attorney Gen- eral Robert F. Kennedy helped to dra- matically reduce gambling, prostitution and other vice activities. He authored a book, Confessions of a Gypsy Quarterback, containing humor- ous stories of his days in pro football. In the foreword, Otto Graham calls Ratter- man "the best natural clown and comic I ever saw in professional football." Ratterman served as a color ana- lyst for both NFL and AFL games from 1960-73. He worked with Jim Simp- son on the broadcast of the first Super Bowl on Jan. 1, 1967. He died at age 80 on Nov. 3, 2007, leaving behind 10 chil- dren, many other family members and countless friends and associates. ✦ Your book order supports the Knute Rockne Memorial Society. Order your autographed, inscribed copy TODAY by visi ng www.RockneSociety.org/Shop/ Special Centennial Commemorative Edition LOYAL SONS: The Story of The Four Horsemen and Notre Dame Football's 1924 Champions Winner – Independent Publisher Book Awards Get the full story on these iconic Notre Dame figures A great read for any Notre Dame fan! "A must-read real jewel… wonderfully researched and detailed." --SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE SPECIAL CENTENNIAL COMMEMORATIVE EDITION National Award-Winning Author Jim Lefebvre T h e s t o r y o f T h e F o u r H o r s e m e n a n d N o t r e D a m e F o o t b a l l ' s 1 9 2 4 C h a m p i o n s Loyal Sons Jim Lefebvre is an award-winning Notre Dame author and leads the Knute Rockne Memorial Society. He can be reached at: jim@ndfootballhistory.com Ratterman (left) teamed with Charlie Jones call- ing games for NBC. PHOTO COURTESY OF BUFFALOSTORIES.COM

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of Blue and Gold Illustrated - April 2025