Milton Andrew Munson Jr. is a military veteran who passed away at age 73 on Nov. 16.
The stress is put first on his past service to his country, although his obituary that appeared in the Hastings Tribune has gone viral for a request tied to this Friday's Nebraska-Iowa game, and some good humor regarding this tough stretch for Husker football.
"In lieu of flowers, please place an irresponsibly large wager on Nebraska beating Iowa," it was written, later continuing on, "The grim reality of the Nebraska Cornhuskers finishing yet another season with a losing record proved to be too much to bear for Milton Andrew Munson, who decided he’d seen enough of this world during the team’s recent bye week. The Huskers may not have sent him into the afterlife with a victory but at least they didn’t lose. And sometimes, that’s the best you can hope for."
A fundraising campaign to honor Munson's request by local radio guys Josh Peterson and Jack Mitchell has taken off #forMilt, with more than $4,200 raised as of Tuesday morning. A winning bet would go to a charity of the family's choice.
As the obituary reads, Munson was born in Hastings, and a graduate of Hastings High before he enlisted in the United States Air Force and was stationed in Honolulu, Hawaii during the Vietnam War.
After that, he graduated from Kearney State college and also received a graduate with a doctor of pharmacy from the Creighton University School of Pharmacy. He'd have a family, and whatever struggles came in life, he remained a Nebraska fan along the way, with it noted how much he enjoyed taking his sons to their first Husker games.
The obituary was written by his sons, according to Todd Munson, who was appreciating the feedback to it.
As for the football bet request, despite Nebraska's 3-8 record and Iowa's 9-2 record, the oddsmakers tabbed the Huskers a 4-point favorite when the line opened on Sunday, which seems strange based on the records, but NU has developed credibility in the betting circles as a team that will trade blows with about anyone in the Big Ten.
After the news of the Adrian Martinez injury on Monday, the Nebraska-Iowa game was momentarily taken off the boards, with a new line set about an hour later, initially casting Iowa as a 1 1/2-point favorite with NU prepared to give Logan Smothers his first career start at QB.
The spread is still hovering around that mark right now, with the Hawkeyes favored by either 1 or 1 1/2 on various lines.
What you can count on, knowing Husker fans, is there will be a good number who honor the request from a late member of the Big Red faithful, and put a little coin down on behalf of a team that is 3-8 in this strangest of seasons of close loss after close loss –yet usually keeps their heart all the way to the end as it was with Milt.
https://twitter.com/themunson/status/1462522190566330368?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1462522190566330368%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2F247sports.com%2Fcollege%2Fnebraska%2FArticle%2FNebraska-Huskers-dying-man-Milton-Munson-Jr-bets-on-Nebraska-football-obituary-Iowa-Hawkeyes-176081145%2F
https://twitter.com/JackMitchellLNK/status/1463169649210703872?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1463169649210703872%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2F247sports.com%2Fcollege%2Fnebraska%2FArticle%2FNebraska-Huskers-dying-man-Milton-Munson-Jr-bets-on-Nebraska-football-obituary-Iowa-Hawkeyes-176081145%2F
