Indiana University’s national championship-winning college football team visited the White House on Monday, and missing from the festivities was Fernando Mendoza, the title-winning team’s quarterback, who last month was the #1 overall pick in the NFL draft.
According to The Sporting News, Mendoza had hinted in advance that he wasn’t coming to Washington because of a desire not to disrupt his preparation for his rookie season with the Las Vegas Raiders.
#Raiders QB Fernando Mendoza says if Indiana’s White House visit on May 11 coincides with a day of practice, he won’t be able to go:
“I’m at the bottom of the totem pole here. I gotta prove myself. I can’t miss practice. … As a rookie, I don’t think that’s a good look.” pic.twitter.com/flg4VGLiXX
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) May 3, 2026
“I’m on the bottom of the totem pole here. I’ve got to prove myself,” Mendoza told the press in early May, shortly after he was drafted. “I can’t miss practice. I don’t have the calendar, but as a rookie, I don’t think that’s a good look. I want to try to best serve my teammates, and I don’t know if that’d be accomplishing that goal.”
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At the ceremony, President Donald Trump noted the quarterback’s absence.
Trump: Fernando Mendoza—he didn’t show up. I’m not happy, but that’s ok. He is actually a big fan of what we are doing. pic.twitter.com/9u4YrWbjVc
— Acyn (@Acyn) May 11, 2026
“This season was also historic because starting quarterback Fernando Mendoza- now the reason he’s not here, he was so nice and called because he’s actually a big fan of ours,” the president said. ”You wouldn’t believe it because he didn’t show up! I’m not happy, but that’s OK.”
“The reason he didn’t is because he’s at spring training, right? I think he’s going to win early. He’s going to be a good one… he’s at spring training and it’s his first day, so I said, ‘You better go there!’ If he didn’t do that (phone call), believe me, I wouldn’t have even talked about him,” Trump added.
“Spring training” isn’t really a turn associated with football, but more with baseball, although it was likely a reference to the spring practices held by football teams.
”If he was not here for other reasons, like he didn’t like Trump or he didn’t want to come, I wouldn’t have mentioned him. But he’s a great guy actually, and he’s actually a big fan of what we’re doing for this country,” Trump said.
Photo courtesy of an X screenshot.
