The Sporting Tribune's Arash Markazi was in Miami as were Raiders owners Mark Davis and Tom Brady to see why Fernando Mendoza is the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft.
MIAMI — Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis, minority owner Tom Brady and general manager John Spytek stood on the sidelines before the College Football Playoff National Championship in Miami, watching the man they hope will save their franchise.
Miracles are nothing new for Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza, but turning the Raiders into a Super Bowl champion would rank right up there with the improbable season he just authored with the Hoosiers.
Mendoza took the losingest college football program in Division I history — one that hadn’t won a bowl game since 1991, hadn’t won the Big Ten since 1967, had never won a Rose Bowl, had never produced a Heisman Trophy winner and had never won a national championship — and quarterbacked the most unlikely clean sweep in college sports history.
It culminated Monday night with Indiana completing a perfect 16-0 season and a 27-21 win over Miami in the College Football Playoff National Championship.
In a season filled with highlight plays, Mendoza saved his best for when it mattered most. With Indiana clinging to a three-point lead and about nine minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Hoosiers appeared poised to kick a field goal on fourth-and-four from the Miami 12-yard line. Indiana coach Curt Cignetti called a timeout and did what he had done all season — put the game, and the season, in Mendoza’s hands.
Taking the snap from the shotgun and drifting back to the 20-yard line, Mendoza scrambled, broke a handful of tackles and dove into the end zone for a touchdown that will be remembered in Bloomington forever.
After the game, Mendoza embraced his parents, Fernando Mendoza Sr. and Elsa Mendoza, who the country has come to know and love over the course of this season. Elsa has lived with multiple sclerosis for 15 years and has served as the biggest inspiration in her son’s life.
She smiled as she recalled what went through her mind on that touchdown run.
“I was like, ‘You’re a quarterback, not a running back,’” Elsa told The Sporting Tribune. “What are you doing? But you know what he says — he’ll do anything to get his team the touchdown. And he did. But I’ll have a couple of words with him when we get home.”
Mendoza’s storybook season unfolded at the same time another Raiders season unraveled. While Mendoza was winning the Heisman Trophy, the Raiders were finishing an NFL-worst 3-14 season.
They had gone 4-13 the year before, then hired Pete Carroll — one of only three head coaches to win both a Super Bowl and a national championship — and signed quarterback Geno Smith, a two-time Pro Bowler and NFL Comeback Player of the Year. Somehow, they finished with an even worse record and are once again looking for a new coach and quarterback just one year later.
The Raiders haven’t just been bad the past two seasons. They have finished above .500 and reached the playoffs only twice since losing the Super Bowl nearly 25 years ago. They haven’t won the division or a playoff game in that span and haven’t won a Super Bowl since 1983.
This is a franchise desperate for a franchise-altering draft pick — and a quarterback capable of leading it back to relevance.
While the Raiders continue searching for a new head coach, they don’t need to look any further for their quarterback. The Raiders’ contingent of Davis, Brady and Spytek knew it was Mendoza before they landed in Miami. They know it’s Mendoza as they head back to Las Vegas. And they’ll continue the familiar song and dance through the NFL Combine and the offseason until they officially select Mendoza with the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL draft three months from now.
Brady refused to speak with the media Monday, but he made his feelings about Mendoza clear earlier this season on the Fox NFL Sunday pregame show.
“I love everything about his game,” Brady said. “Certainly, his leadership is what stands out to me. It’s his relatability to his teammates, and he’s overcome a lot in his career. He’s a Miami kid who went to Cal and Indiana. He went to a program that hadn’t won anything in forever, and what he’s done this season is so impressive.”
Several NFL scouts in attendance Monday echoed Brady’s sentiments. They praised Mendoza’s decisiveness, his lack of hesitation or double-clutching, and how easy he was to evaluate running Indiana’s pro-style offense against NFL-caliber prospects. In their eyes, he was the clear choice to be the top pick in this year’s draft.
When Mendoza was asked before the game about the possibility of being selected by the Raiders, he answered in true Mendoza fashion.
“Honestly, that’s a fantastic question,” he said with a smile. “I would love to answer that. However, I don’t think it would be right by my teammates to focus on the future. I’m giving all my focus to the present right now.”
Mendoza practices those non-answers like he prepares for defensive coverages. During his pregame press conference, a public relations representative informed reporters a transcript would be provided afterward and Mendoza requested one as well.
He knows he can sound robotic at times, but that’s only because he cares. Anyone who’s watched a Geno Smith press conference with the Raiders can appreciate that.
“A lot of people say, ‘Fernando, you talk like ChatGPT and AI,’” Mendoza said. “So I was like, ‘Hey, I’ve got to fix my speaking.’ I took public speaking courses and watched a lot of YouTube videos. From day one, I was like, ‘Stats say I won’t make the NFL and probably won’t even play at Berkeley.’ I was wrong, thankfully, thank God. So I just wanted to maximize every opportunity.”
That includes maintaining an active LinkedIn profile — still updated like a college senior preparing for the job market. His “About” section reads like a resume ready to be emailed on demand.
It’s hard not to love Mendoza for what he does on the field. It’s even harder once you get to know him off it.
“There’s no one like him,” Indiana center Pat Coogan said. “The man he was raised to be, the athlete he is, the work he puts in — it all encapsulates who he is. He’s pretty f---ing amazing.”
Category: General Sports
