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Fernando Mendoza answered a question Saturday about whether he will visit President Donald Trump at the White House to celebrate the Indiana Hoosiers’ historic college football championship.
Mendoza said he “believed” the scheduled date of the visit, May 11, was the first day of the Las Vegas Raiders’ organized team activities (OTAs). But he was wrong, as the Raiders’ OTAs don’t start until May 18.
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Quarterback Fernando Mendoza, selected as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL draft by the Las Vegas Raiders, attends a news conference at Raiders headquarters in Henderson, Nev., on April 24, 2026. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
“If it’s on the first day of OTAs, like I said, I’m at the bottom of the totem pole here, I have to prove myself, I can’t miss practice,” Mendoza told reporters at a Raiders press conference Saturday. “As a rookie, I don’t think it’s a good look. I’m going to try to serve my teammates the best I can, and I don’t think that would be reaching that goal.”
The Raiders do not have anything in their offseason program scheduled for May 11.
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Indiana Hoosiers quarterback Fernando Mendoza looks on during warmups before the College Football Playoff National Championship game against the Miami Hurricanes at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida on January 19, 2026. (Sam Navarro/Imagn Images)
Mendoza led Indiana to the college football championship and the first 16-0 season in the sport’s modern history. The team announced it was visiting the White House to celebrate the achievement on Friday.
Mendoza became one of the biggest names in the sport during his heroics at Indiana last season, en route to the Heisman Trophy. He was the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s NFL Draft by the Las Vegas Raiders.
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President Donald Trump hosts the NCAA collegiate national champions at the White House in this April 2026 photo. (Daniel Heuer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The other college football champions who went on to be the No. 1 overall picks, Trevor Lawrence and Joe Burrow, each visited Trump at the White House during the president’s first term. Lawrence visited in 2019 and Burrow went in 2020.
Now all eyes are on Mendoza, who etched his name in college football history and the hearts of many football fans, to see if he will make the trip once he realizes OTAs aren’t on the same day as the visit.
