This is the third of four stories highlighting each of Wisconsin’s in-state scholarship players in the 2018 football recruiting class.
Boyd Dietzen | Cormac Sampson | Mason Platter | C.J. Goetz
There is a certain status that accompanies being the best high school football player in town, which can result in a sense of ego and entitlement if left in the wrong hands. It is easy to become self-involved if everyone is gushing about how great you are.
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Mason Platter recognized his position as a football star at Menomonie (Wis.) High School. But the way he was raised ensured that being a good football player didn’t make him better than anybody else. All it meant was that he maintained a bigger platform to spread a positive message.
“Like I told him, ‘You may not want to be or feel you are, but right now you’re a role model to all the younger kids and to the community around you,’ ” said Mason’s father, Mike Platter. “I said, ‘People always watch, so do the right thing.’ He does. He took that to heart and realized people are seeing what he’s doing.”
Platter is a 6-foot-5, 230-pound outside linebacker in Wisconsin’s 2018 recruiting class. He dominated the Big Rivers Conference as a senior, when he recorded 13 sacks and 12 forced fumbles as a pass-rushing force off the edge. Opposing teams feared him so much that they ran plays away from wherever Platter lined up in Menomonie’s 3-4 defense. Yet what stands out as much as Platter’s football ability is the type of person he is off the field.
Take, for example, what happened in February, after Platter finished his senior season of football. Platter had spent nearly 2½ years growing out his hair so he could eventually donate it to a worthy cause.
After his mother researched potential options online, he settled on Wigs for Kids because the organization did not charge patients for the hair. Platter said the barber in town cut 17 inches of hair, which was braided and bound in five separate locks and mailed to Wigs for Kids headquarters.
“I just figured as long as I had long hair, I could do something afterward,” Platter said. “That seemed like the most logical thing to do.”
So after 2 years, 5 months and 10 days I finally did it. I decided to donate to @wigsforkids because they do not charge the families for the wigs! Making a wig is an expensive process however. Everyone go to their page and drop a donation! pic.twitter.com/yiKlOGuAY3
— Mason Platter (@Mason__Platter) February 11, 2018
Mike Platter relayed another story that took place during the last week of Mason’s high school career in May. A classmate approached Mason and asked if he wanted to go fishing with him. The two were not close friends and didn’t have much of a relationship, but the other boy had admired Mason during their years in high school together.
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Mason knew he’d be leaving Menomonie for Madison to start summer football workouts with the Badgers in a few weeks. Rather than ignore the request, he made sure they could go after they finished classes on the last half-day of school.
“Instead of going out with his buddies and doing all the stuff you do on the last day, having fun, he took this kid fishing for the afternoon,” Mike said. “He had really never talked to that kid much. He puts his own stuff aside sometimes and just does stuff for other people.”
Platter’s platform as a role model for his community will grow even more when he represents Menomonie in a Badgers uniform. Menomonie football coach Joe LaBuda said the on-the-field transition from high school to college might take a year or two for Platter as he adjusts to Wisconsin’s scheme. But he said the Badgers landed a player with a “big, long, rangy frame that can put a lot of weight on.”
(Photo by Mike Stori)
LaBuda said Platter’s development down the road could compare favorably to Andrew Van Ginkel, a 6-4, 233-pound senior who starred as Wisconsin’s third outside linebacker last season and will take over as the top edge rusher this season.
“They have very similar body builds, and they do a lot of the same things,” LaBuda said. “Van Ginkel uses his hands so well and he’s such an edge presence rushing. And Mason has some of those same traits as far as using his hands well, long frame. I’m sure that’s what the Badgers see him and envision him as is that same type of player. Not immediately, obviously. But I’m sure that’s what they hope to see him grow into.”
LaBuda’s Menomonie football program has produced several talented players in recent years. Iowa starting quarterback Nate Stanley finished his Menomonie football career in 2015 and set school records for passing yards and career touchdowns. Current Badgers inside linebacker Mason Stokke and offensive lineman Alex Fenton also played at Menomonie.
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Platter grew up an avid hockey player because tackle football wasn’t allowed in Menomonie until the eighth grade. Once he began playing football, however, he said it overtook his love for hockey. When Platter realized after his sophomore season that he might be good enough to earn a college football scholarship, he put all his energy into the sport.
Platter’s recruitment didn’t take long to complete. He earned scholarship offers from Northern Illinois and Wisconsin and was being pursued by Iowa, Iowa State and Minnesota. Platter lives in northwestern Wisconsin and is located only 70 miles from TCF Bank Stadium in Minnesota. But he said he grew up a Badgers fan, even though Camp Randall Stadium is 200 miles away.
Platter said he scheduled a recruiting visit for Minnesota with Gophers coach P.J. Fleck on Feb. 19, 2017, before he set up a trip to Wisconsin on the same day. As a result, he moved his Minnesota visit up three days. By the time he returned home from Minneapolis, he was more convinced that he wanted to play for Wisconsin.
“Initially, growing up in Wisconsin, I wanted the Wisconsin offer,” Platter said. “That’s where I wanted to go. But when recruiting started picking up, I tried to put aside all biases, and I took Minnesota seriously. I was impressed with the facilities there. But I couldn’t see myself playing in Minnesota. I wasn’t a huge fan of Fleck. I didn’t see us as being a good fit together.”
Platter earned a Wisconsin scholarship offer while on his unofficial campus visit and committed to the Badgers the next day. He said he jelled with Badgers coach Paul Chryst because of his down-to-earth nature and honesty. They were the types of traits Platter could appreciate and were all he needed to see before he shut down his recruitment.
“I know you’ve got to work for everything that you end up receiving,” Platter said. “I think what I want to be known for is being a high-motor, high-intensity, gritty player who’s physical.”
As Platter enters Wisconsin’s program, he hopes to carry on the lessons he learned during his years as a standout at Menomonie, off the field and on it.