Ruettgers attended Garces Memorial High School (Bakersfield, California) and was a good student and a standout in football.
Ruettgers played college football at the University of Southern California, where he was named to the All-Pac-10 Conference Team in 1984.
In December 2013, Ruettgers was named as an inductee into the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame.
After a brief stint in the publishing industry, he founded GamesOver.org, a non-profit group dedicated to help former professional athletes cope with the stresses of retirement.
[5] Later, he began teaching sociology classes part-time at Central Oregon Community College.