Ben Dreith
Encyclopedia
Ben Dreith is a former American professional football
on-field official
who worked from 1960 to 1969 in the American Football League
(AFL) and from 1970 to 1990 in the 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. 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 Bowl
s, and received a playoff assignment for twenty-eight consecutive years.
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
.
. 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.
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, which led to Oakland's game-winning touchdown with less than a minute left. Replays showed there was no illegal contact. Partially because of the controversy, the league never assigned Dreith to officiate Patriots games again.
In 1983 in his typical no-nonsense fashion, in a late season of Steelers vs. Browns, Dreith punished Jack Lambert by ejecting him from the game for what he considered a late hit on Brian Sipe
. This was also Sipe's last game as a Cleveland Brown. 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: "There's 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." Dreith's call also involved an improvised hand signal of a repeated punching action.
Twenty-one years later, on November 24, 2007, during a game between University of Maryland
and North Carolina State University
, ACC
referee Ron Cherry called a personal foul, saying, "He was giving him the business." Cherry did not use Dreith's hand signal.
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. 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. The EEOC also noted that the league's performance ratings showed that Dreith performed better than some of the younger officials who were retained.
On January 5, 1993, Dreith and the NFL agreed to a $165,000 settlement, plus court costs and attorney fees.
Professional football
In the United States and Canada, the term professional football includes the professional forms of American and Canadian gridiron football. In common usage, it refers to former and existing major football leagues in either country...
on-field official
Official (American football)
In American football, an official is a person who has responsibility in enforcing the rules and maintaining the order of the game.During professional and college football games, seven officials operate on the field...
who worked from 1960 to 1969 in the American Football League
American Football League
The American Football League was a major American Professional Football league that operated from 1960 until 1969, when the established National Football League merged with it. The upstart AFL operated in direct competition with the more established NFL throughout its existence...
(AFL) and from 1970 to 1990 in the NFL. Prior to his teaching and officiating career, he was a three-sport athlete at the University of Northern Colorado
University of Northern Colorado
-Organization:The University of Northern Colorado offers 100 undergraduate programs and more than 100 graduate programs. The university has a satellite campus in Denver, Colorado...
.
Dreith developed a reputation of being a no-nonsense, tough-minded official on the field. His career is most notable for an unnecessary roughness announcement on his microphone during a 1986 NFL season
1986 NFL season
The 1986 NFL season was the 67th regular season of the National Football League. The season ended with Super Bowl XXI when the New York Giants defeated the Denver Broncos to win their first league title in 30 years.-Major rule changes:...
game between the Buffalo Bills
Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills are a professional football team based in Buffalo, New York. They are currently members of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
and New York Jets
New York Jets
The New York Jets are a professional football team headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, representing the New York metropolitan area. The team is a member of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
and a controversial call during a 1976 playoff game between the New England Patriots
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots, commonly called the "Pats", are a professional football team based in the Greater Boston area, playing their home games in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium. The team is part of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National...
and Oakland Raiders
Oakland Raiders
The Oakland Raiders are a professional American football team based in Oakland, California. They currently play in the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
. During his thirty-year career, he officiated two Super Bowl
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...
s, and received a playoff assignment for twenty-eight consecutive years.
Personal
Dreith is a 1950 graduate of the University of Northern ColoradoUniversity of Northern Colorado
-Organization:The University of Northern Colorado offers 100 undergraduate programs and more than 100 graduate programs. The university has a satellite campus in Denver, Colorado...
where he played baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
, basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
, 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
Denver Public Schools
The Denver County School District No. 1, more commonly known as the Denver Public Schools , is the public school system in the City and County of Denver, Colorado, United States.-History:...
.
Officiating career
Dreith was hired by the AFL in 1960 and he later worked for the NFL in 1970, following the AFL-NFL mergerAFL-NFL Merger
The AFL–NFL merger of 1970 was the merger of the two major professional American football leagues in the United States at the time: the National Football League and the American Football League...
. Dreith was the referee during Super Bowl VIII
Super Bowl VIII
Super Bowl VIII was a professional American football game played on January 13, 1974 at Rice Stadium. in Houston, Texas to decide the National Football League champion following the 1973 regular season. The American Football Conference champion Miami Dolphins defeated the National Football...
and Super Bowl XV
Super Bowl XV
Super Bowl XV was an American football game played on January 25, 1981 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana to decide the National Football League champion following the 1980 regular season...
and was assigned eight conference championship games. He also was an alternate official in Super Bowl II
Super Bowl II
The second AFL-NFL World Championship Game in professional American football, later to be known as Super Bowl II, was played on January 14, 1968 at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida....
. He wore uniform number 12, which is now worn by Greg Steed.
Memorable games
During the 1976 playoffNFL playoffs, 1976-77
The NFL playoffs following the 1976 NFL season led up to Super Bowl XI.-Bracket:-AFC: Oakland Raiders 24, New England Patriots 21:The Patriots scored first after an 86-yard drive was capped by running back Andy Johnson's 1-yard touchdown run...
between the Oakland Raiders
Oakland Raiders
The Oakland Raiders are a professional American football team based in Oakland, California. They currently play in the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
and the New England Patriots
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots, commonly called the "Pats", are a professional football team based in the Greater Boston area, playing their home games in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium. The team is part of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National...
, 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, which led to Oakland's game-winning touchdown with less than a minute left. Replays showed there was no illegal contact. Partially because of the controversy, the league never assigned Dreith to officiate Patriots games again.
In 1983 in his typical no-nonsense fashion, in a late season of Steelers vs. Browns, Dreith punished Jack Lambert by ejecting him from the game for what he considered a late hit on Brian Sipe
Brian Sipe
Brian Winfield Sipe is a former professional American football quarterback who played in the National Football League from 1974 to 1983 and the United States Football League from 1984 to 1985....
. This was also Sipe's last game as a Cleveland Brown. Dreith is also known among football fans for his unique explanation of a personal foul penalty during a 1986 game between the Buffalo Bills
Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills are a professional football team based in Buffalo, New York. They are currently members of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
and the New York Jets
New York Jets
The New York Jets are a professional football team headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, representing the New York metropolitan area. The team is a member of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
. After the Jets' Marty Lyons
Marty Lyons
Martin Anthony Lyons is a former American Football defensive tackle who played his entire eleven year career from 1979 to 1989 with the New York Jets of the National Football League...
(misidentified as Mark Gastineau
Mark Gastineau
Marcus Dell Gastineau is a former American football player who was a leading defensive end for the New York Jets from 1979 to 1988. A five-time Pro Bowler, his 100½ quarterback sacks in only his first 100 starts in the NFL made him one of the quickest and most feared pass rushers of his generation...
during Dreith's call) tackled Bills quarterback Jim Kelly
Jim Kelly
James Edward Kelly is a former American football quarterback in the NFL for the Buffalo Bills and the USFL's Houston Gamblers....
to the ground and started to repeatedly punch him in the head, Dreith announced to the crowd: "There's 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." Dreith's call also involved an improvised hand signal of a repeated punching action.
Twenty-one years later, on November 24, 2007, during a game between University of Maryland
University of Maryland, College Park
The University of Maryland, College Park is a top-ranked public research university located in the city of College Park in Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C...
and North Carolina State University
North Carolina State University
North Carolina State University at Raleigh is a public, coeducational, extensive research university located in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Commonly known as NC State, the university is part of the University of North Carolina system and is a land, sea, and space grant institution...
, ACC
Atlantic Coast Conference
The Atlantic Coast Conference is a collegiate athletic league in the United States. Founded in 1953 in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC sanctions competition in twenty-five sports in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association for its twelve member universities...
referee Ron Cherry called a personal foul, saying, "He was giving him the business." Cherry did not use Dreith's hand signal.
Age discrimination lawsuit
By 1990, Dreith reached the age of 65 and the league asked him to move into the instant replayInstant replay
Instant replay is the replaying of video footage of an event or incident very soon after it has occurred. In television broadcasting of sports events, instant replay is often used during live broadcast, to show a passage of play which was important or remarkable, or which was unclear on first...
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
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is an independent federal law enforcement agency that enforces laws against workplace discrimination. The EEOC investigates discrimination complaints based on an individual's race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, perceived intelligence,...
(EEOC).
On February 13, 1991, the EEOC ruled that the NFL had violated the Age Discrimination in Employment Act
Age Discrimination in Employment Act
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, Pub. L. No. 90-202Code, through , forbids employment discrimination against anyone at least 40 years of age in the United States .-Scope of Protection:...
by illegally demoting Dreith. 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
Ageism
Ageism, also called age discrimination is stereotyping of and discrimination against individuals or groups because of their age. It is a set of beliefs, attitudes, norms, and values used to justify age based prejudice, discrimination, and subordination...
, the EEOC claimed that the NFL unfairly reviewed the job performance
Job performance
Job performance is a commonly used, yet poorly defined concept in industrial and organizational psychology, the branch of psychology that deals with the workplace. It's also part of Human Resources Management. It most commonly refers to whether a person performs their job well...
of older referees more closely than younger officials. The EEOC also noted that the league's performance ratings showed that Dreith performed better than some of the younger officials who were retained.
On January 5, 1993, Dreith and the NFL agreed to a $165,000 settlement, plus court costs and attorney fees.
See also
- American Football LeagueAmerican Football LeagueThe American Football League was a major American Professional Football league that operated from 1960 until 1969, when the established National Football League merged with it. The upstart AFL operated in direct competition with the more established NFL throughout its existence...
- American Football League Officials
- List of American Football League players, coaches and contributors