Boston University Athletic Hall of Fame
"Ray Cataloni is one of the finest college linemen I have ever coached," Terrier football coach Steve Sinko said at the conclusion of the 1951 season.
That would have been quite a compliment coming from the veteran coach if it were Cataloni's senior year. Rather, the comment was made after Cataloni's sophomore season in which he started every game.
As a freshman during the 1950 season, Ray could not play varsity football, as rules prohibited freshmen from playing on the varsity team. As a result, Ray suited up for the freshman team coached by Hall of Famer Irv Heller and played 60 minutes a game that season in a forecast of things to come.
As a sophomore, he stepped into the starting lineup in the team's opener against William & Mary and never left the field. At 5-foot-11 when he stretched and 205 pounds after a good meal, he played guard on both offense and defense.
"In those days, you played both ways," Cataloni recently recalled. "If you left the field, you never got back into the game."
The team finished with a 6-4 record including wins over Louisville, Oregon and Wichita and losses to football powers such as Penn State and Syracuse.
Ray was excited about the 1952 season. A number of veterans were back form the previous year, and he was going to play guard on both offense and defense again. However, it all came crashing down for him in the opener at Wichita. In the warning minutes of a 6-0 Terrier win, he came downfield on a BU punt. He overran the punt, and when he turned back to get into the play, he was hit and went down with a broken leg.
The injury forced him to miss the entire year.
However, he came back good as new in 1953, and in fact, was elected team captain. The team finished with a 5-3-1 record with Hall of Fame running back Joe Terrasi helping to lead the way.
"I would have been dead if Ray hadn't blocked for me," said Terrasi, who averaged 5.7 yards a carry. "You wouldn't believe how quick he was off the ball. When he went down into his three-point stance, you knew he would come off the ball like a bullet."
A track letterwinner as well, Ray was named to the Second Team Boston University Post-War All-Star football team in 1964.
