Dave’s Football Blog

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A Rich Tradition of Giving Him the Business

November 27th, 2007 · 1 Comment

Most of you out there probably saw this clip from Saturday’s Maryland v. NC State game:

Most people probably didn’t realize that “giving him the business” was a 15-yard penalty in American football. Even more people probably forgot that this wasn’t the first time the “giving him the business” penalty was ever called. Back in 1986, an NFL referee by the name of Ben Dreith introduced us to this obscure rule during a New York Jets v. Buffalo Bills game:

Dreith has his own Wikipedia page in part because of that call. This should encourage referees all over America to say something even sillier for our entertainment in the future.

Tags: American Football

1 response so far ↓

  • 1 shalla // Nov 27, 2007 at 8:41 pm

    Man, I loved that call. My brother and I still sometimes refer to personal fouls of obvious punching-like natures as “giving him the business.” As a Bills fan, you gotta savor the good memories you got. I