I would like to know if my thoughts are plausible for the response to the following question, please?

Facts:

Tom Bradshau and Ron Stawback are avid football fans; Bradshau is a rabid Pittsburgh Ironmen supporter, and Stawback's favorite team is the Dallas Cattle Ranchers. The two teams are bitter rivals and are scheduled to play during Week 4 of the 2018 United Football League (UFL) schedule.

Before the season starts, Bradshau and Stawback wager a bet that their respective teams will win in the Ironmen-Cattle Ranchers clash. Bradshau presents $500 in cash to secure the bet, and Stawback produces a written "I.O.U" stating the following: " In the event that the Pittsburg Ironmen defeat the Dallas Cattle Ranchers in Week 4 of the 2018 UFL season, I promise to pay the sum of five hundred and no/100 dollars ($500) to the order of Tom Bradshau. Signed, Ron Stawback".

In week 3 of the UFL season, Bradshau indorses and transfers the Stawback I.O.O. to Kenneth Steibler, in payment of a lost of $500 bet to Steibler (Steibler's favorite team, the Oakland Swashbucklers, defeated Bradshau's Ironmen in week 3. In week 4, the Ironmen defeat the Cattle Ranchers.

Question 2: Can Steibler recover the $500 face amount of the I.O.U from Stawback? Why or Why not?

Yes, Steibler can recover the $500 face amount of the I.O.U from Stawback for the following reasons:

If an instrument fails to qualify as a negotiable instrument, that does not mean it fails to be a perfectly good and enforceable contract. All it means is that the special rules regarding negotiable instrument do not apply [ Reference Chapter 26- An Overview of the Law of Negotiable Instruments - page 584]. The document may be a perfectly enforceable contract.

In this case, when Tom Bradshau endorsed the I.O.U received from Ron Stawback and transferred it to Kenneth Steibler, the document became an order instrument that was endorsed and physically delivered to Kenneth Steibler. The endorsement made by Tom Bradshau is an unqualified special endorsement.

Indeed, a special endorsement is the endorser's signature along with a named endorsee [UCC 3-205(a)]. This type of endorsement keeps order paper as order paper that continues to require endorsement and delivery for further negotiation. The words of negotiability, "to order of" are not needed [Reference - chapter 27 - Endorsement - Special Endorsement - page 600].