The most charming and endearing player in college football, who routinely praises God and boasts an endearing LinkedIn profile, could soon be headed to Sin City, a place that celebrates, “What happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas.”
Indiana University quarterback Fernando Mendoza is, at least right now, the projected No. 1 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, owned by the Las Vegas Raiders. The place where coaching and playing careers go to die.
“I’d be blessed to play for the Raiders. I’d be blessed to play for any NFL team that drafts me,” Mendoza said Monday afternoon. “I’d be ecstatic. I know I’ll probably shed a tear to just because it’s such a full circle moment; my whole goal, even the goal of transferring to Indiana, was to make the NFL. It wasn’t to be a great college player. It was to try to develop and be an NFL quarterback one day.”
That day is coming.
Rather than create any potential thought that he’d rather not play for the Raiders with some vague generalities, the Heisman Trophy winner and college football’s top choir boy made it clear he just wants to play in the NFL, whether that’s with the Raiders, Jets, Cardinals, et al.
Mendoza was in Fort Worth on Monday night to accept the Davey O’ Brien trophy, given annually to the nation’s top college quarterback. He chatted with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and Associated Press before the ceremony, and confirmed that his personality is not scripted.
Fernando Mendoza is no longer off social media
Other than a YouTube and LinkedIn account, Mendoza did his best to stay away from TikTok, Instagram, X, or the rest of the social media apps that waste our lives during the season. Now that the season is over, he’s smart enough to recognize the opportunity that comes when you lead Indiana University to the national title in football.
He has 1 million Instagram followers.
Had he been on any of those apps during the 2025 season, he would have been floored by the national reaction to his post game interviews that are so bubbly, upbeat, positive, effervescent that they don’t seem possible. Or, at worst, more like an act.
One of Mendoza’s tasks during the pre-draft process is to convince NFL teams this is not shtick.
“There’s a lot of narratives, and I’m very blessed at the narratives where, “Hey, this guy’s a great guy, and he’s God-fearing, and he’s very team oriented,’ and those are messages I always try to convey,” he said. “That’s just who I am. There’s authenticity, especially sometimes the post-game interviews that I show my passion and willingness for my teammates and for the program that comes out; people may think, ‘Maybe it’s not real.’
“Or, some people think, ‘Wow, this is what true authenticity looks like.’ And I would just try to be my authentic self. I believe that people can sniff out fake.”
When he was on the stage after IU defeated Miami to win the national title, he made a calculated decision that was decidedly not the Fernando Mendoza we had seen throughout the entire year. During the post-game interview on TV, he dropped the ‘F’ word. He knew what he was doing.
“Instead of ‘flipping’ I said (that word) because, contrary to public opinion, it’s not like I never curse,” he said. “I’m a man. I fall into sin. I don’t try to curse. It’s not nice, especially with television. And it’s a habit that I try to take off. But I’ve cursed before. So I try to show my true self in that aspect.
“My true self is not, not cursing, but I also try to show people that I’m relatable, and I could be a normal person.”
If this is an all act, give the man an Academy Award, too.
Fernando Mendoza’s legacy is secure and far from complete
Mendoza could never play another down of football, and he had a career most never do. He’s earned his degree from the University of California. He won the Heisman Trophy, Davey O’ Brien Award, Maxwell Award, and led IU to a national title.
Is it enough?
“Yes, and no,” he said. “I’m highly blessed and highly favored that God’s put me in this position; as a two-star recruit who literally signed a blank piece of paper because there’s no scholarship for Ivy Leagues, and it’s going to go to the bank to take out a $320,000 loan and put myself in a student debt to just go play football at Yale. That’s how much I love football.
“Last minute, the 11th hour, Cal came calling, which is just a great blessing. So with that, yes, I would be happy. However, now I’m always driving for more. The college is great., but that part’s behind me and there’s going to be parts to reflect on that.
“I feel like I’ve been satisfied with my college career. However, now I’m on to the NFL career, (it) requires new skills; it’s a grown man’s league. That’s what I want to play against.”
He will here shortly, and whatever team drafts him — the Raiders, Jets, Cardinals or anyone else — believe it when he says he’s excited. It’s not an act.