Tom Brady Joins the Raiders Combine Interview With Fernando Mendoza in Surprise Phone Hello

Fernando Mendoza walked into a formal interview with the Las Vegas Raiders at the NFL scouting combine this week expecting a standard whiteboard session. Instead, he got a brief phone hello from Tom Brady, the Raiders’ minority owner, during a meeting that doubled as a top of the draft job interview.

Mendoza, Indiana’s quarterback and the expected top passer in the 2026 draft class, said the moment was short but memorable.

“I walked in the formal interview with the Raiders, I was able to say a brief, ‘Hi,’ on the phone to Brady,” Mendoza said. “So, that was very special to me. I look forward to meet(ing) him in person one day and learn from him.”

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Brady’s involvement carries extra weight because the Raiders hold the No. 1 overall pick in April’s NFL draft, and Brady’s stake in the franchise was approved by NFL owners in October 2024. The combine meeting was attended by the Raiders’ coaching staff and was structured around teaching and recall. Mendoza described the session as the kind of test teams use to measure how quickly a quarterback processes information.

“It was a fantastic interview,” Mendoza said. “Coaching staff was in there. We went over some of previous plays. We drew some plays on the board. I thought it was a fantastic meeting. I know they have the prospective No. 1 pick, but anything can happen in the draft. I’m just excited for the opportunity and whatever team drafts me, I’m going to give them everything I got to them.”

Mendoza also addressed the possibility that a team could pass on him, including the team currently sitting at the top of the board. He said he would not respond with a promise of revenge or a “you’ll regret it” message.

“Nothing,” Mendoza said, “There’s so many great players in this draft. Whatever team drafts me, I’m grateful, whether it’s the No. 1 pick or the 199th pick.”

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That “199th pick” reference is not random. It’s the spot where Brady was selected in the 2000 NFL draft, and Mendoza used the same framing again when asked in Indianapolis about draft position.

The quarterback also leaned into the part of his profile that has followed him through high school, recruiting, and college stops: incremental development and obsessive preparation. He tied the approach to daily habits and details.

“I just think the margins are so small, and if you obsess over the small details, it gives you a small edge,” Mendoza said. “And that’s how you’re able to jump and improve and able to get better than the competition – especially when they’re talking about like, nutrition for example, or your discipline.

“If you’re disciplined and are able to stay consistent, you’re able to rise in the rankings. That’s something I’ve really prided myself on, whether I was at [the University of California], whether I was at Indiana … Look at the national quarterback rankings. I was like the 134th quarterback when I came out with my own class in high school.

“And I was raw. And that was a true ranking. I was a raw prospect, I was terrible. So, it’s all about small wins every day and it’s all about discipline.”

Mendoza said the chance to learn from Brady is appealing if the Raiders end up being his destination, and he did not hedge his description of Brady’s resume.

“That opportunity would be fantastic,” he said. “Tom Brady is the greatest quarterback of all time by a wide margin. And to have the opportunity to be mentored by him, it would mean so much. And especially to learn, I’m all about learning. So, from Day 1, it would be a long journey, but to potentially have a mentor like that, it would be pretty impressive and I’d be pretty grateful.”

He also framed leadership as something that has to be earned, with performance and day to day credibility doing the work before any speech does.

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