Baltimore native and former University of Minnesota running back Mohamed Ibrahim hopes to hear his name called in this year’s NFL Draft.
Ibrahim, 24, moved to Baltimore when he was in third grade. He played high school football at Good Counsel High School before starring for Minnesota. The 5-foot-10, 210-pound back broke numerous school records throughout his Gophers career, becoming the program’s all-time leader in rushing yards (4,668) and rushing touchdowns (53).
Ibrahim says an apartment fire in Baltimore helped shape him into the person he is today.
“My mom, [Latoya], had to work double shifts and stuff like that,” Ibrahim said on Glenn Clark Radio Feb. 14. “We had to stay at a hotel. We were trying to get on our feet, but throughout that whole situation my mom was never complaining and stuff like that. She would always come home with a smile on her face, so it taught me through adversity you have to continue being yourself.”
Ibrahim redshirted as a freshman in 2017 before breaking out in 2018 for Minnesota. He ran for the second-most yards in school history by a freshman (1,160). He followed that up with a solid season in 2019, running for 604 yards and seven touchdowns.
Ibrahim then broke out in 2020. In just seven games during the pandemic-shortened season, he ran for 1,076 yards and 15 touchdowns en route to earning the 2020 Big Ten Running Back of the Year honors and being named an AP third-team All-American.
But his 2021 season was cut short before it really began. Ibrahim tore his Achilles in the first game of the 2021 season against Ohio State, putting his NFL Draft prospects in jeopardy.
“I had to humble myself to understand that it’s just a game,” Ibrahim said. “But it helped me shape my life to see what I actually want to do outside of football. I’ve seen how important football was to me when it got taken away from me. That was my first year I didn’t play football … and now I know I want to be a coach when my time playing is done.”
Even with an idea of what he wanted to do post-football, the Gophers star still had a decision to make regarding extra eligibility.
“Come November [2021], I start having these big-boy conversations. I put on my big-boy pants. I’m having these conversations and they’re like, ‘Nobody can come back from an Achilles and you’re not going to get drafted,'” Ibrahim said. “… If I come back for another year, I can show people my Achilles doesn’t hurt. I can show people that I’m a football player.”
Ibrahim ultimately decided to come back for one more season, becoming the 2022 Big Ten’s leading rusher and earning first-team All-Big Ten and second-team All-America honors.
Ibrahim had one of the best seasons in school history, setting single-season records in rushing attempts (320), yards (1,665) and touchdowns (20). He also became the first player in program history to rush for more than 100 yards in 19 straight games.
The Baltimore native participated in the East-West Shrine Bowl earlier this month and is set to take part in the NFL Scouting Combine from Feb. 28-March 6 in Indianapolis. Ibrahim will find out his next destination in about two months at the 2023 NFL Draft, which will take place in Kansas City from April 27-29.
“They’re going to get a hard worker, consistent type of guy,” Ibrahim said of the team that eventually drafts him. “He’s always going to come in and do his job. If he comes in as a role player and the starter goes out of the game and he runs into the game you know, ‘OK, I can count on this guy, he’s going to do his job.’ … If I come in as the starter, it’s going to be somebody they can rely on, somebody that’s going to go out there and make plays and just help the team win.”
For more from Ibrahim, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: Brad Rempel