[1] He played college football at the University of Notre Dame from 1944 through 1946, primarily as a backup to quarterbacks Frank Dancewicz and Johnny Lujack.

Legendary football coach Frank Leahy called him "the greatest all-around athlete in the history of Notre Dame."

Ratterman's tenure as sheriff was marked by a dramatic diminishment of gambling, prostitution and vice businesses that had dominated Newport since the Civil War.

[5] He is the author of a book, Confessions of a Gypsy Quarterback, Coward-McCann, 1962, containing hilarious anecdotes of his experiences and hijinks in professional football.

The guard, a rookie named Joe Skibinski, obediently turned to run back to the bench and Coach Brown before Ratterman and other players stopped him.

He had the distinction of providing color analysis to Jim Simpson's play-by-play of Super Bowl I on Sunday, January 15, 1967, for the NBC Radio Network.