Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Fernando Mendoza is grabbing attention left and right, and Indiana Fever star Sophie Cunningham is among his latest admirers.
The rookie signal-caller is having an exciting year, taking home the Heisman Trophy, winning a national championship, getting selected No. 1 overall in the 2026 NFL Draft, and now graduating.
Raiders QB Fernando Mendoza’s Graduates and Sophie Cunningham Notices
There are a lot of eyes on the Raiders rookie quarterback as he aims to turn around the franchise that has mostly been struggling in recent history. Recently, Mendoza took time away from Las Vegas’ OTAs to graduate from University of California Berkeley’s Haas School of Business.
This caught the attention of Cunningham, who liked a post about the young quarterback graduating from Cal with a bachelor’s degree in business administration.
Cunningham has become one of the WNBA’s bigger stars as Caitlin Clark’s close friend and teammate on the Fever. She is a key part of Indiana’s core. The Fever are currently 5-5 after an 83-75 loss to the New York Liberty.
As for Mendoza, the rookie will enter the 2026 NFL season as a qualified business administrator. Haas School of Business Dean Jenny Chatman announced the 22-year-old at the MBA commencement.
“I hope you don’t mind that I invited this person to our MBA commencement. He actually had a really good excuse for missing commencement,” Chatman said. “He used his Haas skills and coursework to negotiate an excellent job and an excellent comp package, but he wasn’t able to change his start date when he needed to report to his new job. Can you please help me in welcoming Las Vegas Raider, Heisman Trophy winner, Haas graduate and Cal Bear forever, Fernando Mendoza!”
It remains to be seen if Mendoza will start for the Raiders, as they team also signed Kirk Cousins this offseason. Cousins knows head coach Klint Kubiak’s system, so he can serve as an excellent mentor for the young QB. The Raiders are hoping to improve on their worst record in 11 years with Mendoza serving as the face of their franchise going forward.
The front office has been hard at work trying to establish a sound foundation on offense. Las Vegas’ primary weapons are running back Ashton Jeanty and tight end Brock Bowers, so it remains to be seen how Mendoza will fare under center when he takes the reins this season.
Last season, the Raiders had the 31st-ranked offense in the league according to PFSN’s Offense Impact Score with a 56.3 grade (only the Cleveland Browns were worse).
