How mum inspired ‘goofy’ Mendoza to brink of NFL stardom

Fernando Mendoza had already shed a tear after being named the best player in college football.

But as the Indiana quarterback gave his Heisman Trophy acceptance speech, his voice really began to crack when he talked directly to his mother.

“This is your trophy as much as it is mine,” he said. “You’ve always been my biggest fan. You’re my light, you’re my why.”

Elsa Mendoza hasn’t just been a devoted ‘football mom’. After living with multiple sclerosis (MS) for nearly 20 years, she is now a wheelchair user and the inspiration behind Fernando’s rise from obscurity.

“You taught me that toughness doesn’t need to be loud,” he added. “It can be quiet and strong. It is believing in yourself when the world doesn’t give you much reason to.”

Now the ‘goofy’ business graduate is the overwhelming favourite to be picked first in this year’s NFL Draft and link up with his idol Tom Brady.

Having played tennis at the University of Miami, Elsa Mendoza encouraged her three sons to play sports and work hard academically.

She urged her eldest Fernando to keep believing despite repeatedly being overlooked, beginning with his first team at nine years old, when he was initially fourth-choice quarterback.

Coming out of high school, he was ranked 2,149th in the class of 2022 – and the 140th quarterback.

He had to wait until late in the recruiting process to receive his only offer from a Power Five school – the top level of college football – but Elsa insisted it would come.

In 2024, Fernando launched a fundraising campaign for the National MS Society to honour his mother’s “strength and positivity”. She had told her boys that she has MS in 2020, when her condition deteriorated after contracting Covid.

In an open letter to Fernando on The Players’ Tribune, days before the Heisman Trophy ceremony in December, she wrote that “one of the biggest issues I had to overcome as my condition first worsened wasn’t just the condition itself. It was the embarrassment”.

But she added “you’ve never once looked away. You’ve never once treated me like I’m embarrassing, or deficient, or anything other than someone you love and are standing by”.

That became evident to a national audience last season after Fernando transferred to Indiana, where his younger brother Alberto was already on the roster.

As they led the Hoosiers to their first national championship, they warmed the hearts of American sport fans by making sure their mother was part of the celebrations, with Fernando frequently highlighting her impact on his career.

“To see her fight and overcome the struggle with the optimism that she has, she’s been a great role model,” he said.

Several of Mendoza’s post-game interviews have gone viral, partly because the 22-year-old is not your typical quarterback.

As well as raising awareness of MS, Mendoza has been proud to talk about his heritage – all four of his grandparents are Cuban immigrants.

He has boundless enthusiasm and is comfortable showing his emotions. He is also modest and polite – some have even said ‘goofy’. After Indiana upset Ohio State to win their conference, he declared “the Hoosiers are flippin’ champs”.

He talks about philosophy as well as football and has embraced being labelled a “football nerd” who is always eager to learn, putting more effort into updating his LinkedIn profile than Instagram.

The Miami native had actually committed to study economics at Yale and play in the Ivy League before California gave him the athletic scholarship he yearned for.

And even after becoming the Golden Bears’ starting quarterback in 2023, he continued to prepare for a potential future outside the NFL, doing summer internships at real estate investment firms and coaching elementary school teams.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration in only three years at Cal before transferring to Indiana last year to pursue a master’s degree.

Their football programme also gave Mendoza a better opportunity to take his game to the next level and his development exceeded expectations.

He led the Hoosiers to an undefeated 16-0 season and enjoyed a fairytale finish, scoring the game-winning touchdown in his hometown against Miami, who would not even give him the chance to play as a walk-on (without a scholarship) in 2022.

Days after winning that national championship game, he declared for this year’s draft in trademark fashion, announcing “my LinkedIn status is now Open to Work”.

Mendoza grew up idolising Tom Brady, who produced the ultimate underdog story by going from the 199th pick to record seven-time Super Bowl winner.

Brady made that transformation by ensuring he had the best physical and mental preparation, and Mendoza has been doing the same having read Brady’s book and followed his approach to nutrition, training and recovery.

At 6ft 5in and 236lb (107kg), Mendoza has a similar build and playing style – an elite passer who admits he is not the fastest or strongest, but has the composure to make big plays in big moments.

Mendoza’s high school team-mates called him “baby Brady” because he “always had the intangibles, always had the personality” to lead. Speaking in December, Brady said that “his leadership is what stands out to me”.

Brady is now a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders, who have the first pick of this year’s draft. He was part of a Raiders contingent at the national championship game and spoke briefly with Mendoza when the Raiders interviewed him at the NFL Combine.

Mendoza says he would relish having Brady as a mentor and the Raiders have already signed Kirk Cousins with a view to the Heisman Trophy winner learning under the veteran quarterback during his rookie season.

But Mendoza has turned down the chance to stroll onto the stage when his name is called out in Pittsburgh on Thursday.

He has opted to stay home in Miami, to share the moment with his family and the mother who made sure he never gave up on his NFL dream.