Ben Dreith Ben Dreith ( born 1925 ) 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 . 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 the 1976 playoff 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 , Dreith was not assigned to work any games involving the Patriots until 1987 . 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 . 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 . 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 .