I was privileged to help produce an interview for Ibis Media Co. between Mark Fletcher and Mo Toure. They were very candid, and for those who have time, I'd recommend watching the full video at the bottom of this post. A transcript is below:
Fletcher: What's going on, guys? Running back, University of Miami — Mark Fletcher here. This is the Greentree Made podcast, ran by yours truly, and today I'm here with Mohamed Toure, aka Big Mo. So bro, what you been up to lately?
Toure: What's good, man? Appreciate you for having me on, brother. Just in the lab, bro. Just studying the playbook, getting the body right, trying to sharpen the mind every day. Trying to get ready for this season. And I look at me and you as the big leaders of this team.
Fletcher: So how do you feel — because last year we did something incredible for this city, but real talk, we wanted to finish the mission. How do you feel like we can impact the younger guys more and bring them along with us this year?
Toure: I feel like last season we had a lot more vets, a lot more older guys that played a lot of ball. So it was easier to lead because you had more leaders — the more leaders you have, the easier it is. This year we have a lot of guys that are very talented. Me and you got to take on a bigger role, and I feel like we just got to embrace it and just have fun doing it. We got a lot of talented young individuals on this team that could use our guidance. Because we both been through a lot — physically, mentally, emotionally, just in life. So just being able to guide them and help them.
Fletcher: What young guy would you say right now that you're taking along? I feel like it's a couple of them, but if you had to name one — or name two.
Toure: Ezekiel Marcelin and Kellen Wiley. Those are my two pups. I love them. They going to be elite linebackers. I promise you.
Fletcher: Okay. So what separates them right now?
Toure: They both have their own strengths and weaknesses, and we're trying to make our weaknesses our strengths and our strengths stronger. EJ is a very physically gifted and very smart player on the field — we're just learning how to slow things down, analyze, and attack things faster. And Kellen — God bless that young man with the abilities of the best. He's smart as well. For him it's just play recognition, understanding and knowing what you need to do every single play.
Fletcher: Going into your second year in Miami — you came from different colleges before. How do you compare Miami to Rutgers?
Toure: It's different. Even the environment, the place — New Jersey compared to Miami is two totally different worlds. It definitely took some adjusting. But y'all made it an easy transition for me. For real. Like the guys — all my teammates, you, Bane, Keante, Cole, Coupe, everybody — made it so easy for me to come in and make it feel like home.
Fletcher: You know why it was easy though? Because you a Cane, brother. You just got that heart — Cane in my opinion, bro. You embody what a Miami Hurricane is, day-to-day, just how you go. You're one of my inspirations. Even after practice, I would go up to you like, "Bro, how did you beat me on that block?" — little stuff like that, and you just took the time to explain. If we just keep doing that, bro, I feel like we're going to make it far.
Toure: I just look at that as — okay, you hear the stories about Greentree and all the legends that came through here. I just think, how did they be great? By helping each other be great. I know Ray Lewis killed his backers in practice, and then you be killing me sometimes. There are times you catch me, times I catch you, we go at it. So it's like I pick your brain, you pick my brain, because you the best running back I go against all year. There ain't no back I've ever competed against that's better than you. So if I go against you every single day and you're giving me tips every single day to get better, to improve, and just grow in different aspects of my game — I feel like I can be the best, because I'm competing against the best.
Fletcher: I'm telling you. And that's just Greentree — the best versus the best every single day, getting better. All right. So last year, me and you both went through a couple injuries, battled through them. This coming-up year, I think we both feeling pretty good. How are you feeling going into this second year?
Toure: I feel good, honestly. Body feels amazing. Coaches really took the time to come up with a plan for me this offseason — really attack, just get my body staying 100%. Because I feel like that's the biggest thing for me, just going through injuries throughout my whole career.
Fletcher: And I feel like you should speak more on that. How was that journey? I'm pretty sure it took a toll not just on your body but mentally as well. How did you navigate through that?
Toure: If anything, injuries are more mental than physical, if I'm being honest. The physical part was always easy for me — God blessed me with the abilities and gave me the gift to be physically gifted how I am. It's just the mental part. Being away from the game, not being able to play for so long, and just what it does to you. When you get injured, you kind of isolated for a while, and it's just you and your thoughts, away from the game. I know for a lot of us on this team, football is kind of like our escape from reality. So just not having that, it was tough. Doing that multiple times — it was rough. But I'm grateful for it, honestly, because going through everything I've been through, it made me who I am and the man I continue to grow to be. The leader I am, the father I am, the brother, the son I am. It helped me be a better man, helped me understand myself more, and just understand life. Nobody's coming to save you. Got to get up and go get it every single day.
Fletcher: That's how I know the destiny — because the little game you fell in love with as a kid taught you all them lessons. It's just crazy. That's how I know that sits with you forever, that you can implement the tools and the traits you learned from this game in every aspect of life.
Toure: Every aspect. Every aspect. And I learn that every day. Last year we played Pitt, we handled business, and we had time to sit back — we didn't know if we were going to make the playoffs or go to a regular bowl game. And the first game we played was Texas A&M. And me personally, I had an amazing day. Didn't know it was going to happen, but I was turned up. But you had a key moment in that game as well. You saved us. Like you put your whole life on the line, bro — it looked like you were ready to die there just to win. So how was that moment? How was that game for you?
Fletcher: Bro, you got to understand — I've only played in two bowl games ever in my career. One of them, we went because somebody else couldn't go — we didn't even really make it. The other one was when we played against Miami. Playing in a game that's that meaningful, it just motivated me like I've never been on that kind of stage, in front of those kind of fans, in that big of a game. I was just ready to go. That was probably one of the most motivated I've ever been to play. That whole playoff run was just different. In that game, it got to the point in the season where — I feel like early in the season I was thinking too much. Worried about the future, worried about the past, just worried about everything but staying in the moment. Once the playoffs hit, I just was like, man, just go have fun.
Toure: Exactly that. Go play football.
Fletcher: It's crazy you say that, because that's exactly the mindset I took into that game. That whole season it was like I was so consumed — I got to go out there and play for my dad. And that would honestly keep me from being loose enough to just play running back, just have fun. This a game — I wouldn't even be smiling.
Toure: I noticed that about you though. Even during the regular season, you wasn't really celebrating. But when the playoffs hit, I could tell you were in a different mode — because I'm just having fun, brother, and that's what we do. And I feel like that's why, just me having that energy, you having that energy, and then spreading that to the whole team — that made everybody just lock in like, bro, just go have fun. People say, "You so strong, bro." Like, bro, I cry every day, gang. Every day. I hang his shirts up — the rest-in-peace shirts — everywhere around my house, just to keep him close, keep him remembered. But every day, bro, I just wake up and I just go out and do it for him. Because at the end of the day, I'm not the only man who lost his dad. There's plenty of other people who lost their dad, and it's just a decision whether you're going to keep going. I could quit football, be sad, go crawl up in a ball — or I could push through it, be there for y'all boys, tell my story, and just keep on fighting. Both hurt. So I just chose the good hurt. That's what I'm going to choose every day.
Fletcher: And I feel like as we go through life and grow as men, the traits and tools you're learning right now are going to last you a lifetime, brother. When you have children, when your kids go through tough times, you'll be able to tell them — I remember when I lost your grandpa, and that was right before the season, and I just kept pushing. I represented him the right way, I put on for him, and I just kept pushing. That teaches your future kids: listen, whatever you go through in life, you got to keep chasing, keep going. Because in reality, life ain't stopping for nobody. The clock ain't never going to stop ticking for none of us.
Toure: And that's something I admire about you — something I saw when I first got here. I understood your story before I even got here, and you were part of one of the reasons I came. Just hearing some of y'all's stories, learning more about y'all — I can relate to a lot of y'all. Maybe not to the same extent, but overcoming stuff, pain, adversity. I admire that about you and a lot of guys on this team. Nobody sees Mark Fletcher and thinks — if somebody didn't know you, they wouldn't think you lost your father last year. They wouldn't know everything you were going through last season. And you know why? Because of the way you came in every single day, the way you attacked it, your energy — no matter what, always high energy. Always did what you needed to do, and always brought people along with you.
Fletcher: Appreciate that, bro. It meant a lot. Because no, it ain't easy. Just to pick back up what you were saying — like doing it for your kids and all that. When I lost my dad, that truly showed me that we're living life not for ourselves. I feel like God just used me as a vessel to pour out into other people. I guess my dad did what he had to do for me, and he was done, and he just went home. And now I'm just giving back what I know — my knowledge from God — as best as I can. That's what we're all doing in reality.
Toure: You just continuing his legacy. Because your father raised you — gave you all the tools and traits. Yeah, you learn something from football, but you really learned them from your father. He taught you how to be a man. So the man you are today is because of him. And you're still passing down all the traits and tools he showed you — to the rest of the team, to the kids you meet on a regular basis, all the people you impact. So — how do you think we can keep the team levelheaded and not feeding into all the social media? Because you know Cristobal is already telling us every day: stay off social media, stay off people praising us. How do you feel about that?
Fletcher: All right, I'm going to speak on the team first. I just feel like as a team we got to block that stuff out. With the media, one day they hate you, one day they love you. You got to take that stuff with a grain of salt. You can't pay that stuff any mind. You just got to continue to attack every single day. This year we just need to block it all out. I feel like we got the guys to do that — we just got to make sure that once you see the signs, you step on it right then and there. You can't let the fire grow. You got to kill it right then and there.
Toure: It starts off little, spreads around everybody, and next thing you know it's a wildfire.
Fletcher: Truly. So I feel like us making sure we don't let none of this get to nobody's heads. And then personally — throughout my career I've had ups and I've had downs. I've had moments where I was praised and moments where I was kicked. And I take my wins how I take my losses — chin up, chest out, no matter what. Especially this season, I know what I'm doing isn't something that's really been done, in terms of how long I've been here in college. There have been people my age who've been drafted. But I just use it as fuel. Everything people say about me, I use it as fuel. Because I don't care about proving nobody wrong — I want to prove myself right. Because I know who I am as a person. I know the work I put in, I know what I do day-to-day and the grind I invest into this game that I love. I know what I want out of it, and I'm going to get it and make sure of that. So I just let it fuel me. I don't let nothing get to me, but I let it motivate me.
Toure: Hey man, I appreciate you, brother. Appreciate you coming on and telling your story.
Fletcher: No man, for sure, bro. That's Greentree Made, here with Big Mo. Appreciate you.
Fletcher: What's going on, guys? Running back, University of Miami — Mark Fletcher here. This is the Greentree Made podcast, ran by yours truly, and today I'm here with Mohamed Toure, aka Big Mo. So bro, what you been up to lately?
Toure: What's good, man? Appreciate you for having me on, brother. Just in the lab, bro. Just studying the playbook, getting the body right, trying to sharpen the mind every day. Trying to get ready for this season. And I look at me and you as the big leaders of this team.
Fletcher: So how do you feel — because last year we did something incredible for this city, but real talk, we wanted to finish the mission. How do you feel like we can impact the younger guys more and bring them along with us this year?
Toure: I feel like last season we had a lot more vets, a lot more older guys that played a lot of ball. So it was easier to lead because you had more leaders — the more leaders you have, the easier it is. This year we have a lot of guys that are very talented. Me and you got to take on a bigger role, and I feel like we just got to embrace it and just have fun doing it. We got a lot of talented young individuals on this team that could use our guidance. Because we both been through a lot — physically, mentally, emotionally, just in life. So just being able to guide them and help them.
Fletcher: What young guy would you say right now that you're taking along? I feel like it's a couple of them, but if you had to name one — or name two.
Toure: Ezekiel Marcelin and Kellen Wiley. Those are my two pups. I love them. They going to be elite linebackers. I promise you.
Fletcher: Okay. So what separates them right now?
Toure: They both have their own strengths and weaknesses, and we're trying to make our weaknesses our strengths and our strengths stronger. EJ is a very physically gifted and very smart player on the field — we're just learning how to slow things down, analyze, and attack things faster. And Kellen — God bless that young man with the abilities of the best. He's smart as well. For him it's just play recognition, understanding and knowing what you need to do every single play.
Fletcher: Going into your second year in Miami — you came from different colleges before. How do you compare Miami to Rutgers?
Toure: It's different. Even the environment, the place — New Jersey compared to Miami is two totally different worlds. It definitely took some adjusting. But y'all made it an easy transition for me. For real. Like the guys — all my teammates, you, Bane, Keante, Cole, Coupe, everybody — made it so easy for me to come in and make it feel like home.
Fletcher: You know why it was easy though? Because you a Cane, brother. You just got that heart — Cane in my opinion, bro. You embody what a Miami Hurricane is, day-to-day, just how you go. You're one of my inspirations. Even after practice, I would go up to you like, "Bro, how did you beat me on that block?" — little stuff like that, and you just took the time to explain. If we just keep doing that, bro, I feel like we're going to make it far.
Toure: I just look at that as — okay, you hear the stories about Greentree and all the legends that came through here. I just think, how did they be great? By helping each other be great. I know Ray Lewis killed his backers in practice, and then you be killing me sometimes. There are times you catch me, times I catch you, we go at it. So it's like I pick your brain, you pick my brain, because you the best running back I go against all year. There ain't no back I've ever competed against that's better than you. So if I go against you every single day and you're giving me tips every single day to get better, to improve, and just grow in different aspects of my game — I feel like I can be the best, because I'm competing against the best.
Fletcher: I'm telling you. And that's just Greentree — the best versus the best every single day, getting better. All right. So last year, me and you both went through a couple injuries, battled through them. This coming-up year, I think we both feeling pretty good. How are you feeling going into this second year?
Toure: I feel good, honestly. Body feels amazing. Coaches really took the time to come up with a plan for me this offseason — really attack, just get my body staying 100%. Because I feel like that's the biggest thing for me, just going through injuries throughout my whole career.
Fletcher: And I feel like you should speak more on that. How was that journey? I'm pretty sure it took a toll not just on your body but mentally as well. How did you navigate through that?
Toure: If anything, injuries are more mental than physical, if I'm being honest. The physical part was always easy for me — God blessed me with the abilities and gave me the gift to be physically gifted how I am. It's just the mental part. Being away from the game, not being able to play for so long, and just what it does to you. When you get injured, you kind of isolated for a while, and it's just you and your thoughts, away from the game. I know for a lot of us on this team, football is kind of like our escape from reality. So just not having that, it was tough. Doing that multiple times — it was rough. But I'm grateful for it, honestly, because going through everything I've been through, it made me who I am and the man I continue to grow to be. The leader I am, the father I am, the brother, the son I am. It helped me be a better man, helped me understand myself more, and just understand life. Nobody's coming to save you. Got to get up and go get it every single day.
Fletcher: That's how I know the destiny — because the little game you fell in love with as a kid taught you all them lessons. It's just crazy. That's how I know that sits with you forever, that you can implement the tools and the traits you learned from this game in every aspect of life.
Toure: Every aspect. Every aspect. And I learn that every day. Last year we played Pitt, we handled business, and we had time to sit back — we didn't know if we were going to make the playoffs or go to a regular bowl game. And the first game we played was Texas A&M. And me personally, I had an amazing day. Didn't know it was going to happen, but I was turned up. But you had a key moment in that game as well. You saved us. Like you put your whole life on the line, bro — it looked like you were ready to die there just to win. So how was that moment? How was that game for you?
Fletcher: Bro, you got to understand — I've only played in two bowl games ever in my career. One of them, we went because somebody else couldn't go — we didn't even really make it. The other one was when we played against Miami. Playing in a game that's that meaningful, it just motivated me like I've never been on that kind of stage, in front of those kind of fans, in that big of a game. I was just ready to go. That was probably one of the most motivated I've ever been to play. That whole playoff run was just different. In that game, it got to the point in the season where — I feel like early in the season I was thinking too much. Worried about the future, worried about the past, just worried about everything but staying in the moment. Once the playoffs hit, I just was like, man, just go have fun.
Toure: Exactly that. Go play football.
Fletcher: It's crazy you say that, because that's exactly the mindset I took into that game. That whole season it was like I was so consumed — I got to go out there and play for my dad. And that would honestly keep me from being loose enough to just play running back, just have fun. This a game — I wouldn't even be smiling.
Toure: I noticed that about you though. Even during the regular season, you wasn't really celebrating. But when the playoffs hit, I could tell you were in a different mode — because I'm just having fun, brother, and that's what we do. And I feel like that's why, just me having that energy, you having that energy, and then spreading that to the whole team — that made everybody just lock in like, bro, just go have fun. People say, "You so strong, bro." Like, bro, I cry every day, gang. Every day. I hang his shirts up — the rest-in-peace shirts — everywhere around my house, just to keep him close, keep him remembered. But every day, bro, I just wake up and I just go out and do it for him. Because at the end of the day, I'm not the only man who lost his dad. There's plenty of other people who lost their dad, and it's just a decision whether you're going to keep going. I could quit football, be sad, go crawl up in a ball — or I could push through it, be there for y'all boys, tell my story, and just keep on fighting. Both hurt. So I just chose the good hurt. That's what I'm going to choose every day.
Fletcher: And I feel like as we go through life and grow as men, the traits and tools you're learning right now are going to last you a lifetime, brother. When you have children, when your kids go through tough times, you'll be able to tell them — I remember when I lost your grandpa, and that was right before the season, and I just kept pushing. I represented him the right way, I put on for him, and I just kept pushing. That teaches your future kids: listen, whatever you go through in life, you got to keep chasing, keep going. Because in reality, life ain't stopping for nobody. The clock ain't never going to stop ticking for none of us.
Toure: And that's something I admire about you — something I saw when I first got here. I understood your story before I even got here, and you were part of one of the reasons I came. Just hearing some of y'all's stories, learning more about y'all — I can relate to a lot of y'all. Maybe not to the same extent, but overcoming stuff, pain, adversity. I admire that about you and a lot of guys on this team. Nobody sees Mark Fletcher and thinks — if somebody didn't know you, they wouldn't think you lost your father last year. They wouldn't know everything you were going through last season. And you know why? Because of the way you came in every single day, the way you attacked it, your energy — no matter what, always high energy. Always did what you needed to do, and always brought people along with you.
Fletcher: Appreciate that, bro. It meant a lot. Because no, it ain't easy. Just to pick back up what you were saying — like doing it for your kids and all that. When I lost my dad, that truly showed me that we're living life not for ourselves. I feel like God just used me as a vessel to pour out into other people. I guess my dad did what he had to do for me, and he was done, and he just went home. And now I'm just giving back what I know — my knowledge from God — as best as I can. That's what we're all doing in reality.
Toure: You just continuing his legacy. Because your father raised you — gave you all the tools and traits. Yeah, you learn something from football, but you really learned them from your father. He taught you how to be a man. So the man you are today is because of him. And you're still passing down all the traits and tools he showed you — to the rest of the team, to the kids you meet on a regular basis, all the people you impact. So — how do you think we can keep the team levelheaded and not feeding into all the social media? Because you know Cristobal is already telling us every day: stay off social media, stay off people praising us. How do you feel about that?
Fletcher: All right, I'm going to speak on the team first. I just feel like as a team we got to block that stuff out. With the media, one day they hate you, one day they love you. You got to take that stuff with a grain of salt. You can't pay that stuff any mind. You just got to continue to attack every single day. This year we just need to block it all out. I feel like we got the guys to do that — we just got to make sure that once you see the signs, you step on it right then and there. You can't let the fire grow. You got to kill it right then and there.
Toure: It starts off little, spreads around everybody, and next thing you know it's a wildfire.
Fletcher: Truly. So I feel like us making sure we don't let none of this get to nobody's heads. And then personally — throughout my career I've had ups and I've had downs. I've had moments where I was praised and moments where I was kicked. And I take my wins how I take my losses — chin up, chest out, no matter what. Especially this season, I know what I'm doing isn't something that's really been done, in terms of how long I've been here in college. There have been people my age who've been drafted. But I just use it as fuel. Everything people say about me, I use it as fuel. Because I don't care about proving nobody wrong — I want to prove myself right. Because I know who I am as a person. I know the work I put in, I know what I do day-to-day and the grind I invest into this game that I love. I know what I want out of it, and I'm going to get it and make sure of that. So I just let it fuel me. I don't let nothing get to me, but I let it motivate me.
Toure: Hey man, I appreciate you, brother. Appreciate you coming on and telling your story.
Fletcher: No man, for sure, bro. That's Greentree Made, here with Big Mo. Appreciate you.
