George Ratterman George William Ratterman ( November 12 , 1926 – November 3 , 2007 ) was an American Football player in the All - America Football Conference and the National Football League . Early life . He was born in Cincinnati , Ohio , where he graduated from St . Xavier High School in 1944 . 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 . He was the last of only four students in Notre Dame history to earn letters in four different sports ( football , basketball , baseball , tennis ) . Legendary football coach Frank Leahy called him " the greatest all - around athlete in the history of Notre Dame . " Professional football career . He played professional football with the Buffalo Bills of the AAFC from 1947 to 1949 , when the league merged with the NFL . In his first year , 1947 , at the age of 20 , Ratterman threw 22 touchdown passes , setting a professional football rookie record that stood for more than twenty years . He continued his career with the New York Yanks of the NFL in 1950 and 1951 , the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League in 1951 and finished with the Cleveland Browns of the NFL from 1952 through 1956 . He led the NFL in TD passes in 1950 while playing for New York . In 1956 , he became the Browns ' starting quarterback , succeeding Otto Graham , and was first player in the history of football to wear a radio receiver in his helmet , which allowed Cleveland Coach Paul Brown to call plays using a microphone instead of sending in messenger players for each play . Ratterman was featured on the cover of " Sports Illustrated " , October 8 , 1956 . A leg injury on October 21 , 1956 , ended his football career . Post - playing career activities . General counsel for the American Football League Players Association . He earned his law degree in 1956 and was admitted to practice in Ohio and Kentucky . He acted as general counsel for the American Football League Players Association in the mid - 1960s , when Jack Kemp was the president of the union . Campaign for sheriff of Campbell County , Kentucky . On May 9 , 1961 , while campaigning as a candidate for sheriff of Campbell County , Kentucky , he was drugged with chloral hydrate and put in bed with stripper April Flowers in an attempt to blackmail him and force him to drop from the race . The plot was uncovered , and publicity from the botched frame - up attempt catapulted him and his party to victory in the election . While sheriff , with cooperation from federal agents and personal interest of then - U . S . Attorney General Robert Kennedy , he was able to rid the county , and particularly the city of Newport , of gambling , prostitution and vice businesses that had dominated the area since the Civil War . " Confessions of a Gypsy Quarterback " . He is the author of a book , " Confessions of a Gypsy Quarterback " , Coward - McCann , 1962 , containing hilarious anecdotes of his experiences and hi - jinks in professional football . In the foreword , Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Otto Graham says Ratterman was the " best natural clown and comic I ever saw in professional football . " In one story , during a game while Ratterman was in a game for the Browns and stern Coach Brown was sending in the plays from the bench using his messenger guard system , Ratterman told the guard who came in with the play call to " go back and get another one " because Ratterman " didn ' t like that play . " 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 was an unsuccessful candidate for county judge and United States Congress in the 1960s . Broadcasting career . He worked as a color commentator on TV and radio broadcasts of AFL and NFL football games for ABC - TV ( 1960 - 1964 ) and NBC - TV ( 1965 - 1973 ) . He was frequently paired with Jack Buck and Charlie Jones on broadcast teams . Death . Ratterman died in Centennial , Colorado , on November 3 , 2007 , from complications of Alzheimer ' s Disease . He and his wife of 59 years , Anne , had ten children . The Great Kentucky Scandal External links . by Bill Davidson Look Magazine , October 24 , 1961 ,