Giving Him the Business

Posted on December 3, 2007 in Sports

roncherry NCAA football referee Ron Cherry is used to his calls being the subject of conversation for irate fans after a game. However, since refereeing a game between the University of Maryland and North Carolina State University, he and one of his calls have been immortalized on YouTube.

With 9:37 to go in the 4th quarter, Cherry explained why there had been a flag on the previous play, giving what one of the announcers called “the quote of the year.”

“Personal foul, 69, offense, he was giving him the business,” Cherry said.

(watch the video of Cherry’s call)

The announcers couldn’t hold back their laughter, and many football fans who saw Cherry’s explanation live or on the internet couldn’t either.

But, believe it or not, there is a precedent for the call.

In 1986, NFL referee Ben Dreith made the same call during a game between the Buffalo Bills and the New York Jets after Jets defensive tackle Marty Lyons knocked Bills quarterback Jim Kelly to the ground and punched him in the head numerous times.

“We have a personal foul, on number 99 of the defense, after he tackled the quarterback,” Dreith said, “he’s giving him the business down there, that’s a 15-yard penalty.”

(watch Dreith’s original “giving him the business” call)

Whether or not “giving him the business” will become part of football referees’ vernacular remains to be seen, but one thing is certain: Cherry has ensured that he will be remembered by football fans for many years to come.

2 Responses to “Giving Him the Business”

RSS feed for comments on this post