The 2025 Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza has taken the Indiana University football team to new heights — but the athlete couldn’t have done it without his supportive family by his side.
“My lifelong teammate, Alberto, my brother, my closest confidant. The one I trust more than anybody to get through a tough day, tough play, tough game, I love you bro,” Fernando said during his Heisman winner speech in December 2025. “Thank you for always giving it to me straight, no matter the circumstance.”
He also called out his family’s “unconditional love” before speaking to his mom, Elsa, directly during a particularly emotional moment.
“These are the people who built me long before football did,” Fernando said. “Mami, this is your trophy as much as it is mine. You’ve always been my biggest fan. You’re my light, you’re my why, you’re my biggest supporter.”
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He added, “You taught me that toughness doesn’t need to be loud, it can be quiet and strong. It’s choosing hope. It’s believing in yourself when the world doesn’t give you much reason to. Together, you and I are rewriting what people think is possible.”
Following the 2025 success of the Indiana University Hoosiers football team — who went undefeated to take home the Big Ten Championship for the first time since 1967 — fans took an interest in quarterback Fernando and his close-knit relationship with his family.
Keep scrolling for everything to know:
Who Is Fernando Mendoza’s Dad?
The IU quarterback’s father, Fernando Mendoza Sr., was also a college athlete, competing in rowing at Brown University before kicking off a career in medicine. Fernando Sr. is an emergency medicine specialist at the Nicklaus Children’s Pediatric Specialists group in Miami.
Who Is Fernando Mendoza’s Mom?
In her Players Tribune letter to Fernando, published in December 2025, Elsa Mendoza revealed that she was a tennis player at the University of Miami. Initially, Elsa hoped that her eldest son would follow in her footsteps. However, she wrote that Fernando knew college football was in his future.
Elsa also spoke candidly about her multiple sclerosis diagnosis in the same letter.
“I was diagnosed about 18 years ago, but of course you never knew that. You and Alberto were so young, and I was doing fine … and mostly I didn’t want you to worry. It just felt like this impossible thing to place on you guys. On my sweet boys,” she wrote, noting that she was forced to tell Fernando and Alberto after getting sick with Covid-19. “No amount of years could have prepared me for how hard of a conversation it ended up being.”
Elsa wrote that Fernando made her feel “seen” even as she underwent MS treatment.
“You’ve never once treated me like I’m embarrassing, or deficient, or anything other than someone you love and are standing by,” she wrote. “And even as my condition has gotten worse, and as our lives continue to change around that fact: You manage to make me feel like I’m still every part of myself.”
Fernando and Alberto Mendoza. Michael Reaves/Getty ImagesDoes Fernando Mendoza Have a Brother?
The IU quarterback has two younger brothers. Alberto Mendoza shares the field with his older brother and acts as the Hoosiers’ backup quarterback. Alberto stepped in for his brother during several games in the 2025 season.
Fernando and Alberto’s youngest brother is named Max, who has dreams of becoming a sports broadcaster.
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