National Football League

Falcons' White meets winner of big Twitter bet that backfired on him

Published Aug. 8, 2014 3:18 a.m. ET

Andre Vergara

So Roddy White thinks he and fellow Atlanta Falcons receiver Julio Jones each can pick up 1,500 yards this season.

On behalf of Twitter users everywhere, we say: Wanna bet?

White might not go for it, seeing as how the last time he made a bet on Twitter, with a fan over the Duke-Mercer NCAA Tournament game, it ended up costing him season tickets to the Falcons — and much more.

White finally met that fan this week at training camp. Dylan Hoyt, a 20-year-old farm worker and Mercer fan from Monroe County, Ga., said he never expected White to pay up.

"I just thought, why be that fan who just wants to get free stuff? I didn't want to be that guy," Hoyt told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "I was cool with nothing. Next thing you know everybody (on Twitter) just jumped on his case."

People wanted White to pay up after seeing his statement:

@DHoyt77 if mercer beat duke I will give you season tickets 50 yard line first row
— Roddy White (@roddywhiteTV) March 18, 2014

White thought they were crazy.

Y'all people are crazy on twitter you want me to man up and pay a bet to a person that had nothing to lose in the bet #soundsridicules
— Roddy White (@roddywhiteTV) March 23, 2014

But after enough nagging, he came through in a big way, reportedly giving Hoyt two Falcons season tickets, two Super Bowl tickets, sideline passes to a home game and a day at training camp as his guest.

In exchange, White received a valuable lesson:

"Never bet anything unless you're willing to pay up," he said.