Heisman Glory Started in Massachusetts for Fernando Mendoza

Who knew the 2025 college football Heisman Trophy winner was a Masshole?

It's true.

Though a Bay State native, 23-year-old Fernando Mendoza didn't stick around long enough to sample fresh New Bedford seafood, see the Christmas lights at LaSalette Shrine, take in the Boston Pops at Tanglewood, or catch a foul ball at Fenway Park. He was outta here!

A Boston Birth Before Football Fame

Mendoza was born on October 1, 2003, in Boston, Massachusetts, but before he could count 1-2-3, the boy was whisked away to a warmer climate.

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Mendoza is the star quarterback for the Indiana Hoosiers. Just days before he was named the 2025 Heisman Trophy winner, his mother Elsa penned an open letter to her son for The Players' Tribune. In it, Mom explained why she beat a hasty retreat from Boston shortly after the birth of her son.

Why Mendoza’s Family Left Massachusetts

"When you were born, it was this moment of so many changes for me. I'd lived in Miami my whole life, all the way through graduate school, and then at 25 I moved away and got pregnant – in Boston of all places!!!" she wrote.

Elsa explained that while it was "exciting and scary," Fernando's dad worked a lot, which meant "for a while it was mostly just you and me."

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"I remember your first winter; it was so cold, I'd never experienced anything like it before," she wrote, and recalled "overdressing" Fernando, thinking, "You must be freezing like me."

It wasn't long before Elsa Mendoza packed up young Fernando and took him to Miami, where he attended high school before playing college football in California and Indiana.

Mendoza has a younger brother, Alberto, who served as backup quarterback at Indiana.

A Heisman Winner Who Idolized Tom Brady

Though he fled Massachusetts at a young age, Fernando Mendoza is a fan of the GOAT, former New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, whom he refers to as his "football idol."

The Heisman Trophy has been awarded annually since 1935 to the top player in college football. It is considered the most prestigious award in the sport and is awarded by the Heisman Trophy Trust following the regular season in December.