Bettor turns $500 into $63K on Lamar Jackson to win NFL MVP

When Las Vegas sportsbooks reopened Thursday, Mark DeRosa had no problem keeping his distance from others.

The professional sports bettor joked on Twitter that the oversized 6-foot check presented to him by Circa sportsbook director Matthew Metcalf was “perfect for social distancing.”

DeRosa, 37, cashed a $500 wager that paid $63,000 on Lamar Jackson to win the 2019 NFL MVP award.

The Florida resident placed the bet at Circa in July at 125-1 odds. DeRosa said he also placed bets on Jackson at Atlantic City books at 80-1 and 66-1 and won a total of more than $300,000 on about $3,400 in wagers on the Baltimore Ravens quarterback.

“I just thought it was a lot of value for the guy. I play a lot of fantasy football, and he was consistently one of the top performers his rookie year and he wasn’t really even throwing the ball,” said DeRosa (@edteach23). “I figured if he could add some passing to his running ability, he’d be at least in the (MVP) conversation.”

When Jackson threw five touchdown passes in Baltimore’s season-opening 59-10 rout of Miami, DeRosa liked his chances.

“I knew it was live when they blew out the Dolphins like they did,” he said. “I knew he was the favorite when they beat (previously unbeaten) New England (in November).”

Jackson led the league in touchdown passes last season with 36 and rushed for 1,206 yards and seven TDs to break Michael Vick’s single-season rushing record for quarterbacks.

Banking on Brady, Bucs

DeRosa set himself up for another big payday the day after the Super Bowl, when he placed $1,000 in wagers to win $45,000 at DraftKings sportsbook in New Jersey on Tom Brady’s 2020 team to be the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

DeRosa placed $500 each on Tampa Bay at 50-1 odds and 40-1 odds.

“It was extremely high odds. I just felt that was pretty good value,” he said. “I was convinced Brady was going to leave New England. As far as Tampa goes, I felt it was a good situation for him with a good offense, and they were really unhappy with (QB) Jameis (Winston). I just had a feeling it was a good landing spot for Brady.”

Doubling down on his belief that Brady would join Tampa Bay, DeRosa loaded up on Buccaneers futures Feb. 29 at the Borgata sportsbook in New Jersey. He placed a $10,000 bet to win $80,000 on them to win the NFC South (8-1), $8,000 to win $280,000 to win the NFC (35-1) and $3,000 to win $195,000 to win the Super Bowl (65-1).

Those odds have dropped dramatically since Tampa Bay signed Brady, to +125 to win the division, 5-1 to win the conference and 10-1 to win the Super Bowl.

“I really think they’ve got a really good chance this year,” DeRosa said. “I have a feeling you might see the Buccaneers’ season you saw when Peyton Manning went to the Broncos and they just destroyed everybody. I think it’s a possibility.”

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.