This year Indiana football has taken over America and has already become one of the greatest feel good stories of the decade. After nearly a half century of mediocrity and disappointment the Hoosiers made history by going undefeated and winning the college football National Championship.
Despite this historic moment there is one man in particular that people cannot stop talking about. The quarterback and leader of the Hoosiers Fernando Mendoza.
College football has always seemed to highlight the egos of the young athletes they spotlight. Stars like Travis Hunter, Baker Mayfield, Johnny Manziel, and Jameis Winston were known equally for their off the field antics and their eye-catching plays. However Mendoza seems to be a unique outlier from the norm.
Fernando has no ego, no controversy, or even bad grades. In a world of social media divas Fernando is a breath of fresh air to the college world. In fact the only social media Fernando has is his Linkedin.
Normally guys like this get made fun of on social media for being corny and not cool. However Fernando Mendoza has only been showered with praise and love from fans of football and those who don’t even watch. After his story came out of his struggles and overcoming them people fell in love with Mendoza.
Coming into college Fernando was overlooked by many scouts. During his time he led his team to a state championship and put up incredible stats during his time. Even with his accolades many scouts saw him as too raw of a prospect and passed on him.
Even though Mendoza was continually passed on, he had one goal on his mind at all times, and that was to be an NFL quarterback. In order to achieve that dream Mendoza chose to go to Cal University and develop his skills to eventually become pro ready.
As Mendoza was battling every day on the field, so was his mom back at home. From the age of 5 Fernando had to watch his mother battle Multiple Sclerosis (MS) which attacks the nerves in your body causing mobility issues and chronic pain. Seeing his mom fight every day helped push Fernando to be the best he can since he knew his struggles in football are nothing compared to what his mom goes through everyday.
Once many of the public became aware of her condition Fernando garnered even more support. Even none football fans like Sofie Knight (12) thought, “He is so sweet and genuine, and you barely see celebrities and especially athletes like him”.
After his first three years in college Mendoza had no real accomplishments to show for his hard work. Thus before his junior year he entered the transfer portal looking for an opportunity to show his talents for the world. It didn’t take long for him to decide and choose Indiana.
Needless to say the rest is history in his first and only year with the hoosiers Mendoza became Indiana’s Heisman winner, first Manning award winner, an all American, won Indiana’s first big ten championship, first National Championship, and led one of 64 teams in history to an undefeated season. Now Fernando is moving on to his dream of becoming an NFL Quarterback. Where he is expected to be the first overall pick.
Although bitter over their loss to Indiana, Ohio State fan Charlie Bell (12) revealed, “I really like Mendoza, it sucked that he beat us in the Big 10 championship, but he seems like a really nice guy.”
In the age of egos and maintaining ones “image”, Fernando Mendoza showed that just being hardworking, genuine, and kind can take you as far as you want in life.
