Petoskey was raised in St. Charles, Michigan and attended nearby Saginaw Eastern High School.

[1][6][7] In Petoskey's three years as a varsity football player, the Wolverines had a combined record of 23–1–2 and won two national championships.

As a sophomore in 1931, Petoskey was touted as "a second Bennie Oosterbaan,"[8] and earned a spot on the United Press All-Big Ten Conference second team.

[9] In his junior year, Petoskey was one of the favorite pass receivers for quarterback Harry Newman, who won the Douglas Fairbanks trophy as the Most Valuable Player in college football.

Coach Harry Kipke shifted Petoskey to fullback midway through the 1932 season, and he scored two touchdowns in a 32–0 win over Illinois.

The United Press noted: "A running attack which featured Ted Petoskey, converted from an end to a fullback in the last week by Coach Harry Kipke dovetailed nicely with the Wolverine aerial play to produce the touchdowns.

[13] After the 1932 team compiled a perfect 8–0 record (outscoring opponents 123–13) and won the national championship,[14] the press credited the squad's "esprit de corps" as a key to their success.

"Michigan recovered, with both Ted Petoskey, end, and Charles Bernard, center, at the bottom of the heap.

An October 1933 newspaper story reported on his versatility: "Ted Petoskey, Michigan's brilliant right end was moved into the backfield for last night's practice ...

[18] After the 1933 season, Petoskey was chosen as a first-team All-American in the Central Press Association poll of team captains,[19] and for the second-team by Grantland Rice.

"[25] When the Associated Press picked Petoskey as only a second-team All-American in 1933,[26] ten-year-old Mary Lee Grossman from Saginaw, Michigan protested in a letter to AP sports editor, Alan Gould, that he had "chosen wrong" in leaving Petoskey and Whitey Wistert off the first-team.

In May 1933, the Wolverines baseball team swept the Ohio State Buckeyes, as All-American football players Whitey Wistert pitched a complete game, and Petoskey hit an inside-the-park home run.

[33] Immediately after graduating, Petoskey and Michigan teammate Whitey Wistert both signed with the Cincinnati Reds, reporting to the team in early June 1934.

[38] When the baseball season ended, Petoskey and Wistert both returned to Ann Arbor, Michigan in early October, where they were given coaching assignments helping Ray Fisher teach fundamentals and offering personal tutoring to the freshman football team.

[52] During the off-season from his summer job as a minor league baseball player, Petoskey coached the University of South Carolina basketball team from 1935 to 1940.

[54] In August 1942, Petoskey was hired by Wofford College as its head football coach and director of physical education.

[64][65][66] In twelve seasons as South Carolina's head baseball coach, Petoskey compiled a record of 113–120.

Petoskey's baseball players remembered his love of playing poker and his bringing the team home hungry after a tough loss to Duke.

[69] And in 1959, when the Yankees moved spring training for their farm system to Columbia, South Carolina, Petoskey was responsible for the logistics and preparing Capital City Park.