Jason J. Raterink (born August 4, 1981) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

who played in the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

(AFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Wyoming Cowboys The Wyoming Cowboys and Cowgirls are the sport, athletic teams that represent the University of Wyoming, located in Laramie, Wyoming, Laramie. Wyoming is a member of the Mountain West Conference (MW) and competes in NCAA Division I, fielding 17 ...

Early life

Born the son of Ginger and George Raterink, J.J. attended Skyline High School in

Longmont, Colorado Longmont is a home rule municipality located in Boulder and Weld counties, Colorado, United States. Its population was 98,885 . Longmont is located northeast of the county seat of Boulder. It is named after Longs Peak, a prominent mountain th ...

. While at Skyline High, he participated in baseball, basketball and football. Raterink was a captain in football, basketball and baseball. He graduated with a 4.0 GPA and was a Co-Valedictorian of his class. He was named the Class 4A Academic Athlete of the Year for the state of Colorado during his senior season.

College career

After high school, Raterink attended the

University of Wyoming The University of Wyoming (UW) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming, United States. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, ...

, where he was awarded a football scholarship. After taking a

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Sports * Redshirt (college sports) Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically ...

year in 2000, Raterink played very sparingly throughout his first three seasons of eligibility. He served mostly as the team's holder, while backing up brothers Casey and

Corey Bramlet Corey Bramlet (born January 17, 1983) is a former American football quarterback. He was signed by the New England Patriots as an undrafted free agent in 2006. He played college football at Wyoming. Bramlet has also played for the Amsterdam Admir ...

. Raterink saw more playing time as a senior. He was selected as the Co-Mountain West Player of the Week during his four touchdown performance in a triple overtime victory over UNLV which also made the Cowboys Bowl eligible for the first time in 11 years. In the 2004 Las Vegas Bowl against UCLA, Raterink caught a 22-yard touchdown on a reverse pass that helped the Cowboys upset the heavily favored Bruins 24–21. He graduated summa cum laude in the spring of 2005 with a perfect 4.0 GPA and was a finalist to be selected as a Rhodes Scholar.

College statistics

Professional career

Raterink went undrafted during the

2005 NFL draft The 2005 NFL draft, the 70th in league history, took place on April 23 and 24, 2005 NFL season, 2005. The draft was held at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City and was televised for the 26th consecutive year, with coverage on E ...

Spokane Shock

In 2006, Raterink was in training camp with the

Spokane Shock The Spokane Shock were a professional indoor American football team based in Spokane, Washington, that played their home games at the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena. The team was initially a member of arenafootball2 (af2), the Shock won divis ...

of the

af2 The AF2 (often styled as af2, and short for arenafootball2) was the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like its parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football r ...

Bossier–Shreveport Battle Wings

In 2006, he was traded to the

Bossier–Shreveport Battle Wings The Bossier–Shreveport Battle Wings were an Arena Football League team based in Bossier City, Louisiana. They played at the CenturyTel Center in Bossier City and took their name from the metropolitan area that consists of Bossier City and ne ...

Shreveport, Louisiana Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the List of municipalities in Louisiana, third-most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge. The bulk of Shreveport is in Caddo Parish, Lo ...

. He played in all 16 games for the Battlewings and started 15 games at quarterback. He threw for 2,936 yards and 43 touchdowns.

Quad City Steamwheelers

Raterink was assigned to the

Quad City Steamwheelers The Quad City Steamwheelers were a professional arena football team. They were a charter member of the AF2 and played their home games at iWireless Center in Moline, Illinois. The team was founded on September 1, 1999, when the Quad Cities was ...

in November 2006. He played for the Steamwheelers for three seasons from 2007 to 2009 and held almost all offensive records for a quarterback. In 2009, Raterink asked for his release from the Steamwheelers. He had been placed on the four-week injury reserve with symptoms of a concussion, but said he felt fine and that he wanted to play.

Fairbanks Grizzlies

After his release from the Steamwheelers, Raterink joined several former Steamwheelers' players and coaches on the

Fairbanks Grizzlies The Fairbanks Grizzlies were a professional indoor American football, indoor football team based in Fairbanks, Alaska. The team was a member of the Pacific Division of the Intense Conference in the Indoor Football League (IFL). The Grizzlies bega ...

of the

Indoor Football League The Indoor Football League (IFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional indoor American football league in the United States. The league comprises 14 teams, divided equally between the Eastern Conference (EC) and Western Conference ...

. Raterink appeared in two games, completing 11 of 18 passes for 125-yards and 2 touchdowns and no interceptions.

Chicago Rush

Upon the completion of the 2009 season, Raterink considered retiring from professional football. He had begun working for the

Quad City Mallards The Quad City Mallards were a minor league professional ice hockey team based in the Quad Cities area of Illinois and Iowa that competed in the United Hockey League, International Hockey League, Central Hockey League and ECHL. They were named aft ...

hockey team as well as

Enterprise Rent-A-Car Enterprise Rent-A-Car is an American car rental agency headquartered in Clayton, Missouri, in Greater St. Louis. Enterprise is the flagship brand of Enterprise Holdings, which also owns other agencies including Alamo Rent a Car and National ...

, when

Mike Hohensee Michael Louis Hohensee (born February 22, 1961) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the United States Football League (USFL), Canadian Football League (CFL), National Football League (NFL) and Arena Football Lea ...

approached Raterink about becoming a backup quarterback for the

Chicago Rush The Chicago Rush were a professional arena football team based in Rosemont, Illinois. The team was founded in 2001 and played in the Arena Football League's Central Division. The Rush qualified for the playoffs in 11 of 12 AFL seasons, during w ...

in the newly re-organized

. Raterink spent the season as

Russ Michna Russell Walter Michna (born February 3, 1981) is a former arena football quarterback. A two-time league champion of the United Football League (UFL), he has played several leagues, the National Football League (NFL), Canadian Football League ( ...

's backup, until Michna was lost for the season during a July game with the

Dallas Vigilantes The Dallas Vigilantes were an Arena Football League (AFL) team based in Dallas, Texas. Like its AFL predecessor, the Dallas Desperados, the Vigilantes played at the American Airlines Center. The Vigilantes and the Jacksonville Sharks began pla ...

. Raterink started the final game for the Rush during the 2010 season, as well as the playoff game where they lost 64–54 to the

Milwaukee Iron Milwaukee is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the 31st-most populous city in the United States and the fifth-most populous city in the Midwest with a population of 577 ...

Kansas City Command

Raterink was assigned to the expansion

Kansas City Command The Kansas City Command (formerly the Kansas City Brigade) were a professional arena football team that played in the Arena Football League (AFL). The team was founded before the 2006 season. Former Kansas City Chiefs strong safety Kevin Por ...

in 2011, where he was named the starting quarterback. After 13 games Raterink was traded back to Chicago.

Return to the Chicago Rush

Raterink returned to the Rush in 2011 when the Command traded Raterink for Todd Devoe and future considerations.

Iowa Barnstormers

Raterink was assigned to the

Iowa Barnstormers The Iowa Barnstormers are a professional indoor football team based in Des Moines, Iowa, that competes in the Indoor Football League (IFL). They play their home games at Wells Fargo Arena, known in indoor football circles as "The Well". Sever ...

in 2012. Raterink was named the starter for the Barnstormers out of training camp. Raterink was off to a great start of the season, when he was injured during a May 19 loss to the

Jacksonville Sharks The Jacksonville Sharks are a professional indoor football team based in Jacksonville, Florida, that competes in the Indoor Football League (IFL). The team plays its home games at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena. They were members of the Are ...

. Raterink sustained an AC contusion in this throwing shoulder, but returned to the lineup the following week playing with extra padding on is shoulder. He went on to set franchise records for passing yards in a single season (4,870) and passing touchdowns (93), passing

Kurt Warner Kurtis Eugene Warner (born June 22, 1971) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for 12 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), primarily with the St. Louis Rams and Arizona Cardinals. His career, whi ...

and Aaron Garcia respectively. The Barnstormers re-signed Raterink after the season to a two-year deal through the 2014 season.

Los Angeles Kiss

On September 10, 2013, Raterink was traded by the Barnstormers to the

Los Angeles Kiss The Los Angeles Kiss (stylized as LA KISS) were a professional arena football team based in Anaheim, California, and members of the Arena Football League (AFL). The Kiss joined the AFL as an expansion team after Los Angeles' previous franchise ( ...

in exchange for

Carson Coffman Carson Coffman (born April 29, 1988) is an American former professional football quarterback. Coffman was the starting quarterback for the Kansas State Wildcats in 2009 and 2010. He took over the starting position after the departure of Josh ...

. He was awarded the Al Lucas AFL Pulse Hero Award for his philanthropic efforts during the 2014 season.

Return to the Iowa Barnstormers

On Monday May 12, Raterink was traded by the Los Angeles Kiss to the

and then subsequently traded back to the Iowa Barnstormers.

Return to the KISS

On June 30, 2014, the Barnstormers traded Raterink to the

Philadelphia Soul Philadelphia soul, sometimes called Philly soul, the Philadelphia sound, Phillysound, or The Sound of Philadelphia (TSOP), is a genre of late 1960s–1970s soul music characterized by funk influences and lush string and horn arrangements. The ...

for future considerations. On the same day, the Soul traded Raterink back to the KISS for future considerations.

Las Vegas Outlaws

On October 28, 2014, Raterink and former

teammate Donovan Morgan were announced as the first signings by the Las Vegas Outlaws.

Guangzhou Power

Raterink was selected by the Guangzhou Power of the

China Arena Football League The China Arena Football League (), often abbreviated as the CAFL, was a professional arena football league that played its games in the People's Republic of China. It featured players from the now-defunct Arena Football League (AFL) and other ...

(CAFL) in the 12th round of the

2016 CAFL Draft The 2016 CAFL season, the first season in the history of the China Arena Football League (CAFL), began on October 1, 2016. On November 6, the Beijing Lions defeated the Qingdao Clipper to win the first China Bowl. Draft The league held its ...

, and was the starting quarterback for the Power during the 2016 season. He completed 82 of 144 passes for 1,152 yards, 20 touchdowns and 7 interceptions. He was listed on the Power's roster for the 2018 season.

Baltimore Brigade

Raterink was assigned to the

Baltimore Brigade The Baltimore Brigade was a professional arena football team based in Baltimore, Maryland, that played in the Arena Football League (AFL) from 2017 to 2019. The team's home arena was the Royal Farms Arena. The franchise was owned by Ted Leonsi ...

on August 2, 2017.

AFL statistics

''Stats from ArenaFan'':

Coaching career

Raterink was a part of

Ed McCaffrey Edward Thomas McCaffrey (born August 17, 1968) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for 13 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) for the New York Giants, San Francisco 49ers, and Denver Broncos. He ...

's coaching staff at

Valor Christian High School Valor Christian High School is a private, christian high school in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, United States. The school colors are Navy blue, Columbia blue, and white, and the school nickname is ''The Eagles''. Valor has four major focuses: Academ ...

from 2018 to 2019, where he helped Valor Christian win the 2018 5A state championship. Raterink was the

s coach for

Northern Colorado Northern Colorado is the name for a region in the state of Colorado and a proposed state in the northeastern portion of Colorado. Region Northern Colorado is a region in the northern portion of Colorado. It borders northwestern Colorado, nort ...

from 2020 to 2022, again under McCaffrey.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Raterink, J. J. 1981 births Living people American football quarterbacks Wyoming Cowboys football players Milwaukee Iron players Chicago Rush players Kansas City Command players Iowa Barnstormers players Los Angeles Kiss players Las Vegas Outlaws (arena football) players Players of American football from Colorado Sportspeople from Longmont, Colorado Quad City Steamwheelers players Spokane Shock players Bossier–Shreveport Battle Wings players Fairbanks Grizzlies players Jacksonville Sharks players Philadelphia Soul players Guangzhou Power players Baltimore Brigade players Northern Colorado Bears football coaches High school football coaches in Colorado Coaches of American football from Colorado