Age: 23 (Nov. 12)
3rd
season in pro football & with Bills
College: Notre
Dame
Height: 6’1” Weight: 190
Prelude:
An
outstanding all-around athlete in college who lettered in four sports,
Ratterman primarily backup up quarterbacks Frank Dancewicz and Johnny Lujack.
He signed with the Bills in 1947 and passed for 1840 yards and 22 touchdowns,
although with an AAFC-high 20 interceptions, as a rookie. He followed up in ’48
by throwing for 2577 yards and 16 TDs, again topping the league with 22
interceptions. Not averse to taking risks, Ratterman was an accurate passer with
good ball-handling skills and sound leadership qualities.
1949 Season Summary
Appeared in 11
of 12 games
[Bracketed
numbers indicate league rank in Top 20]
Passing
Attempts – 252
[4]
Completions –
146 [3]
Yards – 1777
[4]
Completion
percentage – 57.9 [1]
Yards per
attempt – 7.1 [4]
TD passes – 14
[3, tied with Y.A. Tittle]
Most TD
passes, game – 3 at Baltimore 11/27
Interceptions
– 13 [5, tied with Johnny Clement]
Passer rating
– 76.8 [3]
Rushing
Attempts – 36
Yards – 85
Yards per
attempt – 2.4
TDs – 4 [9,
tied with four others]
Scoring
TDs – 4 [19,
tied with eight others]
Points – 24
Postseason: 1
G (AAFC First Round playoff at Cleveland)
Pass attempts
– 39
Pass
completions – 21
Passing
yardage – 293
TD passes – 3
Interceptions
– 2
Bills went 5-5-2
to finish fourth in the AAFC. Lost AAFC First Round playoff to Cleveland Browns
(31-21).
Aftermath:
With the
demise of the AAFC, Ratterman joined the New York Yanks of the NFL in 1950 and
led the league in both TD passes (22) and interceptions (24) while throwing for
2251 yards, which ranked second. He jumped to Montreal of the CFL in ’51 but
re-joined the Yanks at midseason, although with far less impressive results.
Ratterman spent the remaining five years of his NFL career with the Cleveland
Browns, where he backed up star QB Otto Graham. Given the opportunity to start
in 1956, he lasted four games before suffering a career-ending knee injury. Overall,
Ratterman passed for 10,473 yards and 91 touchdowns while giving up 96
interceptions, with 6194 yards and 52 TDs with 55 INTs coming in the AAFC.
--
Highlighted Years features players who were consensus
first-team All-League* selections or league* or conference** leaders in the
following statistical categories:
Rushing:
Yards, TDs (min. 10)
Passing:
Yards, Completion Pct., Yards per Attempt, TDs, Rating
Receiving:
Catches, Yards, TDs (min. 10)
Scoring: TDs,
Points, Field Goals (min. 5)
All-Purpose:
Total Yards
Defense:
Interceptions, Sacks
Kickoff
Returns: Average
Punt Returns:
Average
Punting:
Average
*Leagues
include NFL (1920 to date), AFL (1926), AFL (1936-37), AAFC (1946-49), AFL
(1960-69), WFL (1974-75), USFL (1983-85)
**NFC/AFC
since 1970
