By Allyson Thompson

Whether you are a fan of football or not, when Fall semester comes around, every student at The University of Georgia gets wrapped up in the sport. Even if you stopped following the 2025-2026 post-season after UGA tragically lost to Ole Miss, you might have still heard of the Indiana Hoosiers and their now famous quarterback, Fernando Mendoza.

Fernando Mendoza and his teammates raising the National Championship trophy. (Source: LinkedIn)

Most quarterbacks that win a National Championship get their name written in the stars, but Mendoza had the unique ability to also win over fans hearts. Any interview aired with Mendoza was paired with hundreds of people saying “aww”.

I think what makes Mendoza so admirable is that fans can tell his sweet and charming personality is authentic, and not just a show for the cameras. His ability to be himself in a sport when authenticity is challenged deserves admiration. USA Today described his way of talking in interviews in a “Ted Talk-esque” style. After securing the Big Ten Conference Championship, Mendoza blurts out “”The Hoosiers are flippin’ champs! Let’s go!”” in a post-game interview. He later apologized saying he was doing a little too much. One of the main reasons why I appreciate Mendoza so much is because of how unique and real he is, compared to the average football player.

This doesn’t even mention the thing that got Mendoza arguably the most press, his LinkedIn profile. As fans watching on the big screen, we often forget that these players are students too, taking college classes, and possibly going into the workforce alongside us. Seeing Mendoza talk about his LinkedIn account and be so focused on posting made him that much more personable. Mendoza was known for doing something amazing, like winning the National Championship, and then posting about it on LinkedIn the very next day. What other nationally recognized football player do you know that does that?

Even though the idea of Mendoza being PR trained is thrown around, it goes to show how powerful PR can be for someone famous. Mendoza was not only able to win a National Championship, but because of his personality and the way he handled himself in front of cameras, he also won over every fan that came across him. Go Dawgs, but also, Go Hoosiers!