The Indiana Hoosiers visited the White House on Monday afternoon. Among the numerous sights and sounds this year's national champions got to experience was a full tour and being honored by Donald Trump in a ceremony.
Indiana's top contributor was absent from the event. Fernando Mendoza, who led the Hoosiers to the first 16-0 season in college football over the last 132 years, didn't RSVP for the gathering in Washington, DC. The Las Vegas Raiders top pick made the decision to skip the festivities, citing offseason OTAs starting up.
For Mendoza, the choice was a no-brainer. Even before becoming the top selection in this year's draft, the Hoosiers' Heisman has been working to perfect his new role for the Raiders. This requires a bit of a learning curve as he'll move under center and away from taking snaps in shotgun formation.
Mendoza has been working with Brian Griese to master the West Coast offense, along with trying to sync his footwork in the process. Not an easy task and one he'll need all the time to understand this offseason. Thus, why didn't he want the back and forth from Vegas to DC to interrupt his schedule.
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Trump mentioned taking a phone call from Mendoza during the ceremony. He said the Raiders rookie sent his best regards and didn't want to miss getting a chance to meet the president. "He didn't show up," Trump said about Mendoza. "I'm not happy, but that's OK. He is actually a big fan of what we are doing."
Mendoza will prep over the next three months before the start of the NFL preseason. The Raiders will find out who they'll play this week and when the league releases full schedules for all 32 teams.
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