There’s no question whether Fernando Mendoza’s biggest fan will be on hand when Indiana takes on Miami in the national championship game. The stadium is right up the road for the quarterback’s mother, Elsa Mendoza.
Travel is tough for Mami Mendoza, who has multiple sclerosis and needs a wheelchair to get around. She was diagnosed with the central nervous disease about 18 years ago, and her condition worsened when she contracted COVID-19 in 2020. The trip to Hard Rock Stadium will be the easiest yet, but it hasn’t stopped her from seeing her son win the Big Ten championship in Indianapolis, the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, the Peach Bowl in Atlanta and, of course, the Heisman Trophy in New York.
Fernando has called Elsa Mendoza his inspiration publicly and frequently. “My love for her is unconditional,” he said to the Indianapolis Star before beating Ohio State. And after she published a letter to him on The Players’ Tribune — “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,” she wrote in part — Fernando made sure to thank her at his Heisman acceptance speech.
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“Mami, this is your trophy as much as it is mine,” he said. “You’ve always been my biggest fan. You’re my life. You’re my why. … 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.”
Elsa Mendoza can claim responsibility for turning her son from an unheralded recruit at Christopher Columbus High School into the prospective No. 1 pick in the 2026 NFL draft. And her son has returned the favor, starting a Mendoza Burrito at a restaurant in Berkeley, where he played before coming to Indiana, and continuing the effort in Bloomington with a fundraiser that’s raised more than $150,000 for MS research, programs and services.
Who are Fernando Mendoza’s parents?
Fernando Mendoza V was born in Boston and raised in Miami to two children of Cuban immigrants, Fernando Mendoza IV and Elsa Mendoza (née Espino). His father played alongside current Miami head coach Mario Cristobal on the Columbus High football team and is now a doctor at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in Miami. His mother earned two degrees at the University of Miami and played tennis for the Hurricanes.
Elsa Mendoza taught her son how to throw a football and was the “overprotective mom,” Fernando said. When he was “crying on my bed” because he wasn’t getting any offers to play in college, Elsa told him to be patient and that they would come.
“And then it was Yale and I’m like, ‘This is fantastic, one of the best days of my life.’ And then after that, she’s like, ‘You’re gonna get a Power 4 offer.’ And I’m like, ‘Mami, FIU and FAU aren’t even offering me, like how am I gonna get a Power 4 offer?’ … And then it ended up coming,” Fernando said in a video by Our Esquina.
That support continued when he was on the bench at Cal, telling him “you’re gonna help turn that program around.” Fernando got his chance in 2023, his second season with the Golden Bears. He did well enough to keep the starting job for the last two months of the year and remained the starter the following season, before leaving for Indiana as one of the most highly touted QBs in the transfer portal.
“Whatever she said has came (sic) to light, and I just can’t thank her enough for everything,” Mendoza said to Our Esquina.
Why is Fernando Mendoza’s mom in a wheelchair?
Elsa Mendoza has multiple sclerosis, a disease that affects the central nervous system, interrupting the flow of information between the brain and body. The National Multiple Sclerosis Society says nearly 1 million people in the United States live with the degenerative disease. What causes MS remains unknown. It is not passed down through generations. Women are estimated to make up nearly 75% of those with the disease.
Because of MS, Elsa is confined to a wheelchair. But Fernando said she hasn’t let her diagnosis keep her down. She made the trip to Indianapolis with dozens of family members to see her sons (Fernando’s younger brother, Alberto, is his backup) win the Big Ten championship, and the family has been along for the ride throughout the CFP, as well.
“At this point, she has a tough time moving around and stuff like that, but her happiness, her joy and her determination is what inspires me every single day and that’s what pushes me,” Fernando said in a video for Hoosiers Connect, Indiana’s official NIL collective. “You know, if I’m in a workout and I’m feeling tired, you know, a little thought in my mind goes, ‘Maybe you should skip out on this set’ or something like that, I’ll be like, my mom is out here every single day putting a ton of work, a ton of dedication and still with a great attitude, a great positive attitude in everything she does.”
When is national championship game 2026? How to watch Miami vs. Indiana
The Hurricanes take on the Hoosiers in the national championship game Jan. 19 at Hard Rock Stadium. The game is set to kick off at 7:30 p.m. ET and air on ESPN, with streaming options including Fubo, which offers a free trial for new subscribers.
Contributing: Scott Horner and Zach Osterman, Indianapolis Star
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Why Fernando Mendoza calls mom Elsa Mendoza ‘my why’ in her MS fight
Reporting by Dan Rorabaugh, USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida / Palm Beach Post
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
