This morning, I saw where one bettor plunked down $7,500 to win $120,000 on Aaron Donald being named Super Bowl LVI Most Valuable Player.
You like his bet? His 12 to 1 odds?
With two weeks to hype a single National Football League game the books will find all sorts of wagering propositions to serve their driving force; separating bettors from their money. Only once in Super Bowl history did the books stub their own toe in this process, that was in 1986 when the Chicago Bears met the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XX. The books laid out the proposition focussed on William “Refrigerator” Perry scoring a touchdown and set the proposition with too long of odds that turned into a popular proposition play for the public.
Perry did score a touchdown, and the books took a financial hit. Now, in that same game, won by the Bears, 46-10, their star runningback, Walter Payton, didn’t score a touchdown. Now that would have been an interesting parlay with real long odds if one was to wager Perry would score a TD and Payton wouldn’t.
Now, the guy that wagered on defensive lineman Donald winning the MVP this year might take solace from that game given it was the second in which a defensive lineman was named MVP. Richard Dent won it when the Bears beat the Patriots. In 1978, when the Dallas Cowboys beat the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XII, two defensive lineman shared the Award, Randy White and Harvey Martin.
On my radio apperance last week, broadcast partner Larry Krueger, who I have great respect for, said he took the 16 to 1 odds on Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase to pick up the MVP Award. While I counter with my leanings to always bank on the winning quarterback picking up the MVP honor, I do recall that when I was with the Oakland Raiders in Pasadena in 1977, the MVP of our win over the Minnesota Vikings was wide receiver Fred Biletnikoff.