Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza made sure his LinkedIn profile reflected his recent college football championship victory.
“Monday night, my teammates and I had the honor of raising the National Championship trophy and bringing a CFB title back to Bloomington, Indiana, for the first time in history,” Mendoza, 22, wrote via LinkedIn on Wednesday, January 21. “With the guidance of our coaches and the unwavering support of Hoosier Nation, our band of brothers made the unbelievable believable.”
Mendoza, the quarterback for Indiana University – Bloomington, led his collegiate football team to a 27-21 victory on Monday, January 19, over the University of Miami in the College Football Playoff National Championship.
“Here’s what winning a National Championship taught me about B2B sales,” the business student continued on Wednesday. “Believe in yourself: Four years ago, I was a two-star recruit playing high school football 30 minutes from Hard Rock Stadium with a dream of playing at the highest level. Two days ago, I became a National Champion in that same stadium, surrounded by the family who never stopped believing in me.”
Mendoza went on to share two more lessons he learned from clinching the championship.
“Take the risk: When it’s 4th and 5 at the 12-yard line, go for it,” he wrote. “Remember who got you there: Thank you to my teammates, coaches, support staff, professors, and everyone behind the scenes who helped make this happen.”
Mendoza also added the victory to the “Honors & Awards” section of his online profile, writing, “First-ever College Football Playoff National Championship for the Indiana Hoosiers, completing an undefeated 16-0 season.”
With his college football career over, Mendoza is now a favorite to be selected in the 2026 NFL Draft.
“I know myself [and I] can make it to the NFL [if I get] really, really good next two years,” he previously said in a 2024 press conference, which resurfaced on social media earlier this week. “I believe that I will make it to the NFL. However, at this point, I’ve gotta limit all distractions.”
At the time, dating proved to be a major distraction for Mendoza.
“Especially with the girls, it can be very distracting,” he quipped. “You might find your first love in college, and stuff like that, but … I’m going to give everything my all, so if I have a girlfriend, I’m going to give her my all. That means, I’m gonna go back from 6 to 9 [p.m.] just to hang out with her, maybe get dinner or something, rather than maybe picking up dinner on the way back from class and watching extra film for the game week.”
Mendoza’s plan presumably helped his collegiate games, as he was selected as the 2025 Heisman Trophy winner last month.
“Mami, this is your trophy as much as it is mine,” Mendoza tearfully said in his December 2025 acceptance speech. “You’ve always been my biggest fan. You’re my light, you’re my ‘why,’ you’re my biggest supporter. Your sacrifices, courage, love, those have been my first playbook and that playbook that I’m going to carry by my side for my entire life.”
