Undoubtedly, Fernando Mendoza's brilliance propelled Indiana football to an improbable undefeated season and a national championship. In the process, he came away with the Heisman Trophy.
One of the people he found inspiration from was Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams, per
Courtney Cronin of ESPN. Essentially, Mendoza credited Williams for coming back from early-season losses at USC and for coming through in the big moments, especially in those one-score games.
“I believe a lot of that experience of failing, coming up so short has helped me in this new run with Indiana whenever we've gone behind, we dug ourselves in a hole with Penn State, with Oregon, with Iowa and be able to learn from those failures and make those successes and then be able to help my teammates.”
Mendoza was the catalyst behind a 73-yard drive that culminated in Indiana's 27-24 win over Penn State in November.
Right now, Mendoza is waiting to see where he will end up in the 2026 NFL Draft. Many are predicting the Las Vegas Raiders will select him.
At USC, Williams came through in those last-minute situations. One of those came in 2022 against Notre Dame, in which he went 18-of-22 for 232 yards in a 38-27 win. A moment that led him to capture the Heisman Trophy.
That dynamic has carried over with the Chicago Bears. Last November, he rushed for 17 yards into the endzone that lifted the Bears over the New York Giants 24-20.
In December, he engineered the 16-point comeback against the Green Bay Packers, culminating in the 46-yard touchdown pass to DJ Moore. The Bears went on to win in OT 22-16.
