One of the most popular props to bet on during the Super Bowl was the total for Tom Brady's rushing yards and that's because the Over/Under was set at a half-yard. If you bet the Over and Brady rushed for just ONE yard, you win the bet.
It's hard to say how much players pay attention to this stuff, but as it turns out, not only was Brady aware of the prop's existence, but he actually came up with a diabolical plan to win nearly $2 million by betting on it. Buccaneers quarterbacks coach Clyde Christensen revealed the plan during a Monday interview on "The Pat McAfee Show."
"I'll give you one funny story from our last quarterback meeting [before the Super Bowl]," Christensen said. "We walk in and Brady goes, 'Hey, I got an idea. There's a half-yard Over/Under for me rushing for half a yard in the Super Bowl. Here's what I'm saying: We all put in $1 million and the first time they're in two three-techniques, I'm going to gain six and we're going to sit on that thing and protect it the rest of the way and we're going to fund our offseason.'"
If you're wondering why Brady is rich, it's definitely because he comes up with ideas like this.
A three-technique means the defensive linemen would be lining up on the outside shoulder of the offensive linemen, which would leave the middle of the field wide open for Brady. Also, Brady clearly gave this prop a lot of thought, because he mentioned that he would need to rush for 6 yards to make sure the prop hits. The reason 6 yards is crucial is because it means Brady would still finish with more than 1 yard even if he was forced to kneel the ball at the end of the game.
The Over on the Brady rushing prop was paying as much as +180 at most sportsbooks, which means if Brady and the other quarterbacks had made the bet and won, they would have profited a cool $1.8 million on their $1 million bet. Sportsbooks probably aren't too thrilled to know that conversations like this are going on, because if a player ever goes through with it, the book could lose millions.
Of course, this plan was all fun and games because NFL players aren't allowed to gamble on the NFL and Christensen made sure to let everyone know that, just in case they weren't aware of the rule.
"I go, 'You can't.' He goes, 'I promise you if we have a million on it, I will not get sacked. We will not lose the money,'" Christensen said. "We didn't do it, FYI, for the record for the IRS and NFL. It was just a joke. He was funny because he knew someone had told him, 'Hey, there's an Over/Under for you rushing for a half-yard in the Super Bowl.' The quarterbacks all talked about it, 'Hey, we may all throw some money in there and see if we can pay for a nice vacation or something.'"
There might be a nice vacation in Brady's future, but it won't be because he won $1.8 million betting on his own rushing prop in the Super Bowl. Even if players were allowed to gamble on the NFL, this plan probably wouldn't have worked, but only because most sportsbooks won't take a $1 million wager on a prop.
If you did bet the Over on the prop, you probably already know this, but you lost and that's because Brady ended up rushing four times for minus-2 yards with three of those carries coming on QB kneels. If Brady had pulled off the 6-yard run that was part of his plan, the Over would have easily hit.
It's a good thing the Buccaneers quarterbacks didn't bet the prop, because the NFL does NOT take gambling lightly. The last player to get caught betting on the NFL was former Cardinals defensive back Josh Shaw, who was hit with a 21-game suspension in November 2019. Shaw will finally be eligible to return from that suspension this year.