OT - Should Atlanta Falcons receiver Roddy White pay off Twitter bet with fan?

Submitted by Cold War on

...And when a fan challenged White by saying Duke would fail to advance beyond the round-of-64 game against No. 14-seed Mercer, White made somewhat of a pledge.

He said he would buy Falcons season tickets on the 50-yard line for the fan if he was correct.

Turns out, the fan was correct: Duke lost. Sometime after the game, White backed off his promise. Instead of season tickets, White said he would buy the fan tickets for a single game when the Falcons played the Chicago Bears..

http://www.nola.com/saints/index.ssf/2014/03/should_roddy_white_pay_off…

Really? Two season tickets shouldn't be that big of a deal to a NFL player. Keep your damn word.

MaizeAndBlueWahoo

March 24th, 2014 at 6:49 AM ^

On the one hand, it'd be nice if a man's word were his bond anymore.  Man up and eat the blazin' wings.  On the other hand, White's got a point that the the fan didn't exactly have anything to lose.  If I were the fan I'd just happily accept White's offer of one game.  I don't think millionaires should be held to a different standard (in most cases) just because they're millionaires, and I wouldn't expect Regular Joe from the office to pay up on full season tickets either.

nogit

March 24th, 2014 at 1:43 PM ^

So expecting people to follow up on promises when it is clearly within their means to do so is a higher standard than most people are held to?  I don't agree.

Or are you suggesting that the season ticket value is so high that it should be considered an outlandish bet no matter the means of the person making the wager?

If so, then how do rich people make bets?  I'm pretty sure they're not going around betting 5, 10 bucks.  Anything higher they can't be held to because it's clearly not a serious bet right?

If someone makes a bet for $10,000 while sitting around a trailer park, it's going to be taken differently than if mitt romney makes a bet for $10,000.  That doesnt mean he's held to a higher standard, it just means its reasonable for someone to believe he is really making a $10,000 wager, whereas in the trailer park example, its clearly not a serious bet.

 

MaizeAndBlueWahoo

March 24th, 2014 at 11:14 AM ^

I promise you that if it got to the championship game, and someone was perfect up to that point, Warren Buffett would want to buy them out.  I can promise that because Buffett said so himself.  The contract language probably prevents Buffett from making the offer, and Quicken wouldn't want to do it because 1) it's not their money and 2) they would want all that publicity.

However, if it had just been Buffett and no QL, Buffett would definitely offer to buy the person out, and for less than half.  Again, straight from his mouth.  And you know what, I'd take it.  I'd definitely take 1/16th of what was offered the way Roddy White is doing - that'd be $62.5 million.  Absolutely, no questions. 

GoBLUinTX

March 24th, 2014 at 1:58 PM ^

to buy off BEFORE the game, not after the results are known.  I promise you, many people would take the buy out before the game was played, I also promise you that had somebody turned down the buyout and had picked the actual winner, they would be demanding their $1B gift.  And I promise you this, were Warren Buffet or QL to attempt to renege, flocks of lawyers would line up to represent their newest, bestest, and potentially richest client.

CompleteLunacy

March 24th, 2014 at 9:03 AM ^

He was so confident that Duke would beat Mercer that he made a wager, unprovoked.



Warren Buffet did the same thing with a perfect bracket billion dollars. Should we think it would be ok for him to go back on his word because he didn't think it was going to happen?



Don't write a check that your ass can't cash. Bottom line.

jblaze

March 24th, 2014 at 9:44 AM ^

is that White is famous and made the bet. Regular Joes would never bet ~10K to $20K just to trash talk and be expected to actually follow through.

Also, if White manned up and paid, this stupid story would make him look like a humble guy and would be on the front page of yahoo. All for $10-$20K. Not bad at all.

rob f

March 24th, 2014 at 9:22 AM ^

at least until he learns to use the "Tweet" button, "send" button, or "reply" button with caution.  Once it's out there, you can't take it back.  Anything less than full payment of what he tweeted, White comes off as the bad guy to someone.

Muttley

March 24th, 2014 at 8:43 PM ^

before they start all the time.

Only partially delivering on a whimsical agreement isn't the most unethical move ever.  Poor form, but I think Roddy's taking way too much flak for it.

Posters should remember their sanctimony the next time they renege.

 

Mr. Elbel

March 24th, 2014 at 8:03 AM ^

I was wondering the same thing. You can't just call up the Falcons and ask for season tickets on the 50 expecting them to have those seats readily available... there are only so many seats exactly on (or even near) the 50, and I would assume they fill up fast.

Sllepy81

March 24th, 2014 at 7:20 AM ^

season tickets or real low 50yd line tickets? I'm joking but sometimes you can get the nose bleeds for $10, it'll cost you $150 or more for great tickets sometimes.

StephenRKass

March 24th, 2014 at 7:45 AM ^

People are always blowing off on what they're going to do, but back away the minute it becomes a real bet. Last year an Ohio fan was mouthing off while we were watching the basketball game at Lifetime that happened to be at Crisler. He went on about how they were going to beat Michigan, and he'd bet anyone money that Ohio was going to win. So I pulled out $20 and said, "you're on." At which point, his tune changed considerably. It's easy to "bet" something until you have skin in the game.

Oh, and yes, another example of not using twitter, or using it carefully.

doughboy

March 24th, 2014 at 8:36 AM ^

I agree with your example and how once someone accepts the challenge/bet many just seem to back down.  But with the White tweet it seems only one person was offering something - White himself.  There wasn't really a bet between the two the way I read it.  The other guy didn't wager anything but his opinion that Duke would lose.

In the end I think White was alright in offereing what he did.  But it would have been extraordinary if White would have offered up season tix.  

ilah17

March 24th, 2014 at 9:01 AM ^

But White offered up the bet, the other guy didn't ask for it. He didn't even say, "how much you wanna bet Duke loses?" All he tweeted was, "@roddywhiteTV @kristenm2185 Mercer gonna beat em first round! #478 ," and then White came back with the bet.

The guy he bet is being cool about it, he said he didn't expect Roddy to pay up. I just think it was silly for White to say anything about a bet.

M-Dog

March 24th, 2014 at 8:57 AM ^

Guess we should start holding everyone to what they say on twitter????

Huh?  Twitter is just the means of commmunication.
 
Guess we should start holding everyone to what they say on the phone????

Guess we should start holding everyone to what they say in an interview????

Guess we should start holding everyone to what they say in an email????

Guess we should start holding everyone to what they say in person????

 

Why should Twitter be any different?  The notion that you can say any damn thing you want on Twitter with impunity is troublesome, and downright stupid for the person saying it.

 

Mabel Pines

March 24th, 2014 at 10:49 AM ^

is more like the comments after any news article on a website.  I don't take it seriously, but hey, if some guy thinks he's entitled to season tickets on the 50, then he can fight that until he dies. I agree if you say mean or racist comments on twitter, you are probably a jerk.  But season tickets on the 50 if Mercer wins?  I just don't think you should hold a person to that.

My statement was overly broad.  I apologize.  Twitter is not at all similar to a personal email or talking "in person" or on the phone to someone, but your italics are really making me think twice. 

 

Mr. Elbel

March 24th, 2014 at 8:20 AM ^

It's twitter. If you wanna place a bet go to Vegas. While I'm all for paying up a lost bet, especially one that you can afford, Twitter bets aren't real bets. A Twitter bet is about as good as a verbal commitment from Lorenzo Booker (which is still fun to laugh at).

Good on Roddy for even giving the fan any tickets at all.

Space Coyote

March 24th, 2014 at 8:23 AM ^

Without knowing the full situation around this, a ton of people "make bets" without intended to really make bets. It's a way of emphasizing their point. So without knowing the full context of this, I kind of doubt that White was being really serious with this bet. The fact that he's offering anything at all, after engaging with a fan on twitter, to me is good enough.