Ben Dreith

Infobox Person
name = Ben Dreith


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caption = Ben Dreith "giving the business."
birth_date =
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death_date =
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education = University of Northern Colorado
(Bachelor's degree, 1950)
occupation = NFL official (1970–1990)
AFL official (1960–1969)
spouse =
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nationality = USA

Ben Dreith is a former American football official who worked from from 1960 to 1990 in the American Football League (AFL) and the National Football League (NFL). Prior to his teaching and officiating career, he was a three-sport athlete at the University of Northern Colorado.

Dreith developed a reputation of being a no-nonsense, tough-minded official on the field.cite web |title=Ben Dreith |url=http://www.coloradosports.org/inducteeprofile.cfm?id=195&i=1| publisher=Colorado Sports Hall of Fame |last=Moss |first=Irv |accessdate=2008-02-10] His career is most notable for an unnecessary roughness announcement on his microphone during a 1986 NFL season game between the Buffalo Bills and New York Jets and a controversial call during a 1976 playoff game between the New England Patriots and Oakland Raiders. During his thirty-year career, he officiated two Super Bowls, and received a playoff assignment for twenty-eight consecutive years.

Personal

Dreith is a 1950 graduate of the University of Northern Colorado where he played baseball, basketball, and football. He was a four-time All-Conference selection in baseball and two-time in basketball. He later worked as a teacher for Denver Public Schools.

Officiating career

Dreith was hired by the AFL in 1960 and he later worked for the NFL in 1970, following the AFL-NFL merger. Dreith was the referee during Super Bowl VIII and Super Bowl XV and was assigned eight conference championship games. He also was an alternate official in Super Bowl II. He wore uniform number 12, which is now worn by Greg Steed.

Memorable games

During a 1976 playoff game between the Oakland Raiders and the New England Patriots, Dreith called a roughing the passer penalty on Patriots tackle Ray "Sugar Bear" Hamilton, nullifying a third down incompletion and giving the Raiders an automatic first down deep in New England territory. Replays would clearly show that there was no illegal contact, but the call set up Oakland's game-winning touchdown with less than a minute left. Partially because of the controversy, the league never assigned Dreith to officiate Patriots games again.

Dreith is also known among football fans for his unique explanation of a personal foul penalty during a 1986 game between the Buffalo Bills and the New York Jets. After the Jets' Marty Lyons (misidentified as Mark Gastineau during Dreith's call) tackled Bills quarterback Jim Kelly to the ground and started to repeatedly punch him in the head, Dreith announced to the crowd:

:"We have a personal foul, on number 99 of the defense, after he tackled the quarterback, he's giving him the business down there, that's a 15-yard penalty." [ [http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0118bickley0118.html NFL officials aren't as bad as they seem] by Dan Bickley, "Arizona Republic", January 18, 2006 (Last accessed Nov. 26, 2007)]

Twenty-one years later, on November 24 2007, during a game that featured the University of Maryland against North Carolina State University, ACC referee Ron Cherry used the same quote to reference a personal foul.

Age discrimination lawsuit

By 1990, Dreith reached the age of 65 and the league asked him to move into the instant replay booth. He refused and was demoted to line judge. Dreith was fired after the season, thus prompting him to send a complaint to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

On February 13, 1991, the EEOC ruled that the NFL had violated the Age Discrimination in Employment Act by illegally demoting Dreith. ["Former Referee Suing NFL" "The Record (New Jersey)" July 26, 1991, pp. D3] After attempts to reach a compromise with the league, the EEOC sued the NFL on August 13. In the first-ever lawsuit filed by the agency against professional football for age discrimination, the EEOC claimed that the NFL unfairly reviewed the job performance of older referees more closely than younger officials. ["Ref Dreith fouled, according to suit" "Houston Chronicle" August 14, 1991, Sports section, pp. 3] The EEOC also noted that the league's performance ratings showed that Dreith performed better than some of the younger officials who were retained. ["Commission sues NFL for age discrimination on behalf of ex-referee" "Dallas Morning News" August 14, 1991, pp. 8B]

On January 5, 1993, Dreith and the NFL agreed to a $165,000 settlement, plus court costs and attorney fees. ["NFL Pays $165,000 To Ex-Ref: Age Discrimination Suit Finally Settled" "Rocky Mountain News" January 6, 1993, pp. 58]

References

External links

* [http://verbungle.com/Givinhimthebizniz.wav Audio of Dreith's infamous personal foul call]