A mean blonde mullet combined with a handlebar mustache creates the appearance of former WWE superstar Diamond Dallas Page. BVU football player, Derien Beauregard’s, otherwise known as Deebo, gets compared to Page quite often. Beauregard, a 4th year senior on the BVU football team, was one of 5 team members to be elected as a team captain for the 2021 football season. Which, according to Beauregard, “was a great honor that I was respected by my teammates enough to be chosen as a captain”.  

As a way of communicating to the community and fans who the team captains were, Buena Vista University Football posted to Twitter individual pictures of each one of the team’s captains. This tweet went viral. At this moment in time the tweet has accumulated 76 retweets and 329 likes. Why did this happen? The simple answer is Derien Beauregard and his fantastic mullet and mustache.
 

This tweet gained statewide attention. Keith Murphy, the Sports Director at Channel 13 news, hopped aboard the “Deebo” train and has been a big fan ever since. The attention didn’t stop there. A twitter account called “RedditCFB” gained wind of this and tweeted out a photo progression of Beauregard from his freshman year to his senior year. Keep in mind RedditCFB is verified and has over 215 thousand followers on twitter. From there the company RAYGUN heard the noise and contacted Beauregard about the idea of making a shirt with a silhouette of Beauregard’s face on selling them. The shirt reads “Deebo Exotic”. 

While all of this fame and publicity is great for Beauregard and the University, Beauregard wants to ensure that this doesn’t change anything about who he is as a person. “A lot of the comments on the Twitter and Facebook posts are good comments. Things like, ‘He held the door for me at Casey’s,’ or ‘I dropped my bags at Walmart, and he came over and picked them up for me.’ And what I have realized is that people remember the little things, and that is my favorite thing to come out of this whole experience.”  

A famous saying that many know is “with great power comes great responsibility” and Beauregard knows that he holds a great deal of responsibility to uphold himself to a high standard. “I think so many kids aspire to be me right now. I remember being that age and looking up to college or high school players and wanting to be just like them. And I’m grateful that I am in a position to reach out to a lot a more kids than I was before.”  

Beauregard also understands that he still has a job to do on the field. “I think it causes a lot of drive in us as a team. The team morale is at the highest it has ever been. And I think because of that we, as a team, are really excited to see some of the things we can accomplish this season.”  

Not many collegiate athletes get to be in the position that Beauregard is in right now. He acknowledges his platform and wants to do what is right for himself and the community all while keeping himself and the team driven towards pursuing their team goals. In the end “Deebo” might not become a worldwide celebrity. But at the very least “Deebo” will not lose sight of the bigger picture. And will continue to be himself which, as his shirt says, is exotic.