Long before launching YouBetcha and becoming an unofficial ambassador for all things Midwest, Myles … [+]
Minnesota State University Moorhead Athletics
All across the Midwest this weekend, Big Ten Conference fans will be tuning in to watch their favorite teams play in college football’s annual smorgasbord of bowl games, many of them witch chicken wings dipped in ranch that they’ll wash down with a cold Busch Light.
And in between plays and during commercial breaks, there’s a good chance they’ll scroll through their phones and find a video of Myles Montplaisir, cracking open his own ice-cold Busch Light — or, Busch ‘Latte,’ in his words — and having a few laughs at beer snobs, cooler snobs, mowing lawns, shoveling snow and just Midwestern life itself.
Montplaisir, a former prep football standout in Fargo, N.D. who went on to play four years at NCAA Division II Minnesota State Moorhead, is the face of the You Betcha series of viral videos, podcasts and merchandise, all of which celebrate all that’s great about a region many consider nothing more than flyover country.
His YouTube channel begins 2022 with over a half-million subscribers and the project he and a friend launched during a bar discussion about social media has exploded in size and popularity while turning Montplaisir into something of an unofficial ambassador for the region; a pretty impressive story for a guy who was benched a few games into his freshman season.
A Foundation In Football
An eight-time letter-winner in three sports at Shanley High School in Fargo, N.D., Montplaisir earned All-Conference and All-State honors twice and in 2010 was named named North Dakota’s AA Senior Athlete of the Year in 2010 after throwing for 1,800 yards and 28 touchdowns.
From there, Montplaisir moved just across the North Dakota-Minnesota border to MSU Moorhead, an NCAA Division II program and member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.
He began his collegiate career as a quarterback but was benched after an admittedly unimpressive start to his redshirt freshman season. Not interested in simply sitting on the bench, Montplaisir volunteered to move over to wide receiver and finished the year with four catches for 34 yards.
Montplaisir moved to the defensive side his next season, opening the year at linebacker before moving to tight end, which was also his position as a senior when he started all 11 of the Dragons’ games and finished the year with three catches for 73 yards including a 46-yard reception against Bemidji State
“My position was the ‘running tight quarterback receiver,’ Montplaisir says with a laugh. “I played about every position under …….
