BleedGopher
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Gophers football coach P.J. Fleck has insisted on an open-door policy. If he’s in his office in the Larson Football Performance Center, Fleck will receive players at any time.
In Fleck’s nearly two full years in Dinkytown, no player has taken him up on the offer more than redshirt freshman running back Mohamed Ibrahim. Ibrahim is in there so much, their regular chats are now known as “Mo Mondays.”
Once Ibrahim is done watching film in the afternoon, he will stop at Fleck’s office to talk about anything but football. “We talk about things that we aren’t supposed to talk about,” Fleck said, such as politics and religion.
Sometimes they break down game play on “Call of Duty” on the Xbox console as if it were game film. Whatever the topic, the sessions generally last 30 to 40 minutes.
“He’s pretty funny when you sit there and talk to him,” Ibrahim said.
“You literally have to walk,” Fleck said of the format. “He has a hard time just walking. But that is who he is.”
That’s why during a Tuesday workout in November, Ibrahim caught the eye of a trainer who told Fleck, “You might want to check on Mo; he’s not acting right,” Fleck said. He soon discovered one of Ibrahim’s closest childhood friends had just passed away. Coach and student, of course, talked about it.
Ibrahim was reluctant to share details about his friend’s death with reporters. He said his friend was in a car when he was shot and then died but declined to add any more detail than that. Ibrahim, however, was eager to share the impact his friend had on his life while growing up in the Forest Park area of Baltimore.
“He was everything to me,” Ibrahim said in November. “He was like my best friend, like my brother. We hung out ever since the third grade, so it was kind of hard for me. But I got through it.”
Ibrahim said he has witnessed “crazy” violence in his hometown, which according to FBI data had the highest homicide rate of any large U.S. city in 2017. After his friend’s death, Ibrahim felt he should return home. But a visit with his father, Mohamed, for the Northwestern game convinced him to stay.
“So, I just stayed up here and stuck here with my teammates and got through it with my teammates,” Ibrahim said. He credits receiver Chris Autman-Bell with helping him mourn and cope.
Against the Wildcats’ stingy defense that Saturday, Ibrahim had 20 carries for 98 yards and a touchdown, adding two receptions for 25 yards in a 24-14 loss. The next week against Wisconsin, he was a workhouse, carrying 26 times for 121 yards and a touchdown as Minnesota beat the Badgers in Madison for the first time since 1993.
“Mo was driving his legs and getting the extra yards; that was critical,” quarterback Tanner Morgan said inside Camp Randall Stadium. “That guy is an animal now. He showed that … No question about it. He’s got the heart of a lion and Mo played a huge role … in winning this thing right here.”
Morgan then reached to the table in front of him to touch Paul Bunyan’s Axe, the rivalry trophy the Gophers hadn’t possessed since 2003.
Ibrahim has established a reputation for rarely being tackled on first contact.
“Once contact happens, that’s the first play,” he said. “The second play is me still going to make that play longer and keep my feet moving and driving piles.”
Bob Milloy helped Ibrahim get out of Baltimore by recruiting him to play at Our Lady of Good Counsel High School in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C. Vikings receiver Stefon Diggs is another alum.
“He was just like he is now, runs downhill, rugged,” said Milloy, who has since retired as the winningest high school coach in Maryland history. “He hits the hole. He has a sheer will about him. He wasn’t being that highly recruited. (Fleck) saw something in him that a lot of people didn’t.”
Ibrahim has since dedicated his season to his fallen friend.
https://www.bemidjipioneer.com/spor...ailback-mohamed-ibrahim-carries-fallen-friend
Go Gophers!!
Gophers football coach P.J. Fleck has insisted on an open-door policy. If he’s in his office in the Larson Football Performance Center, Fleck will receive players at any time.
In Fleck’s nearly two full years in Dinkytown, no player has taken him up on the offer more than redshirt freshman running back Mohamed Ibrahim. Ibrahim is in there so much, their regular chats are now known as “Mo Mondays.”
Once Ibrahim is done watching film in the afternoon, he will stop at Fleck’s office to talk about anything but football. “We talk about things that we aren’t supposed to talk about,” Fleck said, such as politics and religion.
Sometimes they break down game play on “Call of Duty” on the Xbox console as if it were game film. Whatever the topic, the sessions generally last 30 to 40 minutes.
“He’s pretty funny when you sit there and talk to him,” Ibrahim said.
“You literally have to walk,” Fleck said of the format. “He has a hard time just walking. But that is who he is.”
That’s why during a Tuesday workout in November, Ibrahim caught the eye of a trainer who told Fleck, “You might want to check on Mo; he’s not acting right,” Fleck said. He soon discovered one of Ibrahim’s closest childhood friends had just passed away. Coach and student, of course, talked about it.
Ibrahim was reluctant to share details about his friend’s death with reporters. He said his friend was in a car when he was shot and then died but declined to add any more detail than that. Ibrahim, however, was eager to share the impact his friend had on his life while growing up in the Forest Park area of Baltimore.
“He was everything to me,” Ibrahim said in November. “He was like my best friend, like my brother. We hung out ever since the third grade, so it was kind of hard for me. But I got through it.”
Ibrahim said he has witnessed “crazy” violence in his hometown, which according to FBI data had the highest homicide rate of any large U.S. city in 2017. After his friend’s death, Ibrahim felt he should return home. But a visit with his father, Mohamed, for the Northwestern game convinced him to stay.
“So, I just stayed up here and stuck here with my teammates and got through it with my teammates,” Ibrahim said. He credits receiver Chris Autman-Bell with helping him mourn and cope.
Against the Wildcats’ stingy defense that Saturday, Ibrahim had 20 carries for 98 yards and a touchdown, adding two receptions for 25 yards in a 24-14 loss. The next week against Wisconsin, he was a workhouse, carrying 26 times for 121 yards and a touchdown as Minnesota beat the Badgers in Madison for the first time since 1993.
“Mo was driving his legs and getting the extra yards; that was critical,” quarterback Tanner Morgan said inside Camp Randall Stadium. “That guy is an animal now. He showed that … No question about it. He’s got the heart of a lion and Mo played a huge role … in winning this thing right here.”
Morgan then reached to the table in front of him to touch Paul Bunyan’s Axe, the rivalry trophy the Gophers hadn’t possessed since 2003.
Ibrahim has established a reputation for rarely being tackled on first contact.
“Once contact happens, that’s the first play,” he said. “The second play is me still going to make that play longer and keep my feet moving and driving piles.”
Bob Milloy helped Ibrahim get out of Baltimore by recruiting him to play at Our Lady of Good Counsel High School in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C. Vikings receiver Stefon Diggs is another alum.
“He was just like he is now, runs downhill, rugged,” said Milloy, who has since retired as the winningest high school coach in Maryland history. “He hits the hole. He has a sheer will about him. He wasn’t being that highly recruited. (Fleck) saw something in him that a lot of people didn’t.”
Ibrahim has since dedicated his season to his fallen friend.
https://www.bemidjipioneer.com/spor...ailback-mohamed-ibrahim-carries-fallen-friend
Go Gophers!!
