Ben Dreith (February 1, 1925April 25, 2021) was an American

professional football In professional sports, as opposed to amateur sports, participants receive payment for their performance. Professionalism in sport has come to the fore through a combination of developments. Mass media and increased leisure have brought larg ...

on-field official who worked from

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Jan ...

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

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 The University of Northern Colorado (UNC) is a public university in Greeley, Colorado. The university was founded in 1889 as the State Normal School of Colorado and has a long history in teacher education. The institution has officially changed ...

. Dreith developed a reputation of being a no-nonsense, tough-minded official on the field. During his thirty-year career, he officiated two Super Bowls, and received a playoff assignment for twenty-eight consecutive years.

College

Dreith was a 1950 graduate of the

in Greeley (then known as the Colorado State College of Education), where he played

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

, and football. He was a four-time all-conference selection in baseball and two-time in basketball, and later worked as a teacher for

Denver Public Schools The Denver County School District No. 1, more commonly known as the Denver Public Schools (DPS), is the public school system in the City and County of Denver, Colorado, United States. History In 1859, Owen J. Goldrick established the Union Scho ...

Officiating career

Dreith was hired by the new AFL in

and moved to the NFL in , following the

AFL–NFL merger The AFL–NFL merger was the merger of the two major professional American football leagues in the United States at the time: the National Football League (NFL) and the American Football League (AFL). It paved the way for the combined league, w ...

. He was the referee during

Super Bowl VIII Super Bowl VIII was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Minnesota Vikings and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Miami Dolphins to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for ...

and Super Bowl XV and was assigned eight conference championship games. Dreith also was an alternate official in Super Bowl II; he wore uniform number 12, which is now worn by Greg Steed. In 1983 in his typical no-nonsense fashion, in a late season game between the Steelers and Browns, Dreith ejected Jack Lambert from the game for a late hit on

Brian Sipe Brian (sometimes spelled Bryan in English) is a male given name of Irish and Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan origin. It is common in the English-speaking world. It is possible that the name is derived from an Old Celtic word me ...

in what turned out to be Sipe's final NFL game. Dreith is also known among football fans for his unique explanation of a personal foul penalty during a game between the Buffalo Bills and the New York Jets. After the Jets'

Marty Lyons Martin Anthony Lyons (born January 15, 1957) is a former American college and professional football player who was a defensive tackle and defensive end in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons during the 1970s and 1980s. Lyons play ...

(misidentified as

Mark Gastineau Marcus Dell Gastineau (born November 20, 1956) is an American former football player who was a defensive end for the New York Jets from 1979 to 1988. A five-time Pro Bowler, he was one of the quickest and most feared pass rushers of his generatio ...

during Dreith's call) tackled Bills quarterback

Jim Kelly James Edward Kelly (born February 14, 1960) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons with the Buffalo Bills. He also spent two seasons with the Houston Gamblers of the United Stat ...

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 (Lyons actually wore 93) of the defense — after he tackled the quarterback, he's givin' 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 The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

and North Carolina State University,

ACC ACC most often refers to: * Atlantic Coast Conference, an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic conference located in the US *American College of Cardiology, A US-based nonprofit medical association that bestows credentials upon cardiovascular spec ...

referee Ron Cherry called a personal foul, saying, "He was giving him the business." Cherry did not use Dreith's hand signal. David Letterman stated he wanted the previous sentence to be a topic for Know Your Current Events.

Age discrimination lawsuit

By , Dreith reached the age of 65 and the league asked him to move into the

instant replay Instant replay or action replay is a video reproduction of something that recently occurred which was both shot and broadcast live. The video, having already been shown live, is replayed in order for viewers to see again and analyze what had j ...

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 The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is a federal agency that was established via the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to administer and enforce civil rights laws against workplace discrimination. The EEOC investigates discrimination ...

(EEOC). On February 13, 1991, the EEOC ruled that the NFL had violated the

Age Discrimination in Employment Act The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA; to ) is a United States labor law that forbids employment discrimination against anyone, at least 40 years of age, in the United States (see ). In 1967, the bill was signed into law by Pr ...

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, also spelled agism, is discrimination against individuals or groups on the basis of their age. The term was coined in 1969 by Robert Neil Butler to describe discrimination against seniors, and patterned on sexism and racism. Butler def ...

, the EEOC claimed that the NFL unfairly reviewed the

job performance Job performance assesses whether a person performs a job well. Job performance, studied academically as part of industrial and organizational psychology, also forms a part of human resources management. Performance is an important criterion for or ...

of older referees more closely than that of 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."NFL Pays $165,000 To Ex-Ref: Age Discrimination Suit Finally Settled" ''

Rocky Mountain News The ''Rocky Mountain News'' (nicknamed the ''Rocky'') was a daily newspaper published in Denver, Colorado, United States, from April 23, 1859, until February 27, 2009. It was owned by the E. W. Scripps Company from 1926 until its closing. As ...

'' January 6, 1993, pp. 58

Death

Ben Dreith died on April 25, 2021 at age 96.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dreith, Ben 1925 births 2021 deaths Sportspeople from Denver American Football League officials National Football League officials Northern Colorado Bears baseball players Northern Colorado Bears football players Northern Colorado Bears men's basketball players American men's basketball players Baseball players from Denver Basketball players from Denver Players of American football from Denver

College

Officiating career

Age discrimination lawsuit

Death

See also

References