BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Fernando Mendoza already had nothing to prove. The Indiana quarterback is the consensus No. 1 overall pick in the upcoming NFL draft, widely expected to land with the Las Vegas Raiders. He could have skipped the Hoosiers’ pro day on Wednesday, just as he did the throwing drills at the scouting combine. Instead, he showed up and threw for more than an hour in front of representatives from all 32 teams.
His motivation had nothing to do with his own draft stock. Mendoza wanted to make sure his teammates got the exposure they needed.
“Everybody knows his situation,” running back Roman Hemby said. “He doesn’t have to come out and do some of the things he does, but he wants to help showcase some of the guys and I was able to capitalize on that. I take my hat off to him. It shows what type of person he is and that’s why we all love him.”
Mendoza returned to campus over the weekend to prepare. He ran through the script multiple times with his receivers, tight ends, and running backs, making sure each player would run routes that highlighted their strengths. The quarterback rehearsed the entire throwing session repeatedly so there would be no surprises for his teammates.
“I wanted to just best showcase our guys,” Mendoza said. “Some quarterbacks in the past have done shorter pro days, but we wanted to best showcase our abilities in front of all 32 NFL teams and really run routes that are applicable to what we are going to be running in the NFL.”
After the workout, Mendoza and his teammates gathered in the end zone one last time. They put their hands together and broke the huddle the same way they had all season: with a shout of “Brothers.”
“It’s not goodbye forever yet but it’s a little bittersweet,” tight end/fullback Riley Nowakowski said. “You get to this point and are proud of how we did everything we set out to do, but it is the end of the road. So that definitely hit us, knowing we won’t get to step on the field all together again. Happy that everything is going on to bigger and better things, though.”
Mendoza’s selflessness did not surprise those who know him. Nowakowski called it a reflection of his character. “He’s in a little more secure spot than most of us, so he just wanted to help us out. I appreciate that so much.”
For Mendoza, there was never a question about whether to participate. “They’re my teammates and they’ve done so much for me,” he said. “I would not be the same player without them. There have been so many times throughout the season where they’ve saved my butt. It’s a great working relationship and they’re some of my best friends for life.”
