Credit: Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty
NEED TO KNOW
- Fernando Mendoza is staying in Miami for the 2026 NFL Draft
- The presumptive No. 1 pick shared the reasons for his decision in an interview on SportsCenter on Monday night
- Mendoza, who won a national championship with the Indiana Hoosiers and the Heisman last season, is slated to join the Las Vegas Raiders
Fernando Mendoza has said that he is keeping his talents in South Beach — at least as far as the upcoming NFL Draft is concerned.
Now, the presumptive No. 1 pick in Thursday night’s draft is shedding new light on why he’s doing so.
“Pittsburgh is a great opportunity and it’s a great venue, and I’m really excited to see all the guys or most of the guys walk across the stage on Thursday night,” Mendoza, 22, told Rich Eisen on SportsCenteron Monday, April 20. “However, my mom really wanted to do it at home and so did my parents, it’s a lot easier for us, especially with the family situation.”
Mendoza has shared in the past how close he is to his family, including his mother Elsa who has multiple sclerosis.
For that reason alone, it was an easier choice to stay at home, he said.
Credit: Fernando Mendoza/Instagram
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The Heisman Trophy winner said he is also looking forward to sharing the night with all of those who helped him along the way.
“I wanted to stay and make the memory of everyone who poured into my football journey,” he said. “Mentors, coaches, family, friends. I want to share that moment with all of them it’s gonna be the best memory that I can make rather than limit it to 10 or 12 people in Pittsburgh.”
The famously articulate quarterback then hedged: “It’s gonna be great, and I still want to be the best league partner that I can become.”
He added that he is amenable to having “however many cameras ESPN wants” on him in Miami at his watch party.
Mendoza, projected to go to the Las Vegas Raiders with the first pick in the draft, will become the first No. 1 pick not to attend the draft since Travon Walker did so when the Jacksonville Jaguars drafted him in 2022.
Walker’s now-quarterback, Trevor Lawrence, also stayed home the previous year when his name was called.
Still, in typical Mendoza fashion, he said he wishes his fellow draftees well on the big night.
If the Raiders select him, the signal-caller will join a team whose minority owner is his hero, Tom Brady, and have a built-in mentor in NFL veteran Kirk Cousins.
“However, I think it’s very important to start off this journey with everyone who’s gotten me to this point,” Mendoza said.
Read the original article on People