Linda Fletcher has driven nearly 60,000 miles over the past four years to watch every game her son, Miami running back Mark Fletcher Jr., has played in college. The journey is becoming a story of its own. On a humid morning in Florida, Fletcher is preparing her RV, Betty, for a trip to Clemson, South Carolina, with 10 passengers aboard, including her oldest son, Keith, her daughter, J'Sha, and her 3-year-old granddaughter, Bri Bri.
Fletcher's travels gained national attention last year when Miami made the College Football Playoff and advanced to the national title game. Her road trips from Florida to Texas, then Arizona and back, became part of the postseason story. Before Betty, Fletcher drove a minivan or truck. The RV came about after she befriended Michael Irvin, who helped arrange a weekly series called "Fetching Fletchers" documenting her travels. The RV, delivered in August, displays her late husband, Mark Sr., on its door, a tribute Irvin proposed to protect her on the road.
Fans, who have become a social media sensation, line up at home and away games for hugs, photos and a chant of "Let's go Canes!" Fletcher happily obliges, embracing the Fletchers and the Hurricanes faithful alike. Irvin described her as someone who has never met a stranger and called her a beautiful person.
The long drives also give Fletcher time for reflection. Sometimes, she says, she thinks about life and about Mark Sr., and the tears come. Her favorite stop so far has been the Grand Canyon, and visits to zoos have become a family tradition.
Source: ESPN General · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing