Fernando Mendoza had himself a time at the Masters this past weekend in Augusta, Ga., before the Las Vegas Raiders are widely expected to select him first overall in next week’s NFL draft.
Mendoza, who led Indiana to the College Football Playoff championship last season and won the Heisman Trophy, was rubbing elbows with Maria Taylor of NBC Sports, Jim Nantz of CBS and the Golf Channel’s Kira Dixon, while at Augusta National Golf Club, as seen in an Instagram post he shared on Tuesday.
One snapshot showed Mendoza with his brother, Alberto, a quarterback for Georgia Tech, Jack Luckhurst, a placekicker for South Carolina, and Michael Luckhurst, a Cal men’s soccer forward.
Mendoza and Luckhurst, a former placekicker, were teammates on the Cal football team before the quarterback transferred to Indiana for the 2025 season, his final year of eligibility.
He attended this year’s Masters — where Irishman Rory McIlroy won his second consecutive green jacket — before the Raiders, co-owned by Tom Brady, are expected to select him on April 23. The Jets hold the second overall pick.
The signal-caller had a visit with the Raiders in Las Vegas earlier this month, per ESPN.
Mendoza informed the league that he is not planning to attend the draft, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, who reported that he wants to share the draft experience with his family in Miami.
Mendoza has been making the rounds ahead of the draft.
Elsewhere on Monday, Mendoza was revealed as Esquire’s “Mavericks of Sports” and spring issue cover star.
“I always try to have a hunter mindset instead of the hunted mindset. So right now I try to compare myself to one out of thirty-two potential starting NFL quarterbacks — and I’m not even drafted by a team and I don’t have a starting position. But you want to stay hungry,” Mendoza told the outlet of preparing himself for his next phase of life.