Key Takeaways
- Fernando Mendoza will NOT attend the 2026 NFL Draft in Pittsburgh — he’ll watch from Miami with friends and family
- The reason is deeply personal: his mother, Elsa Mendoza, suffers from multiple sclerosis and uses a wheelchair, making travel difficult
- He’ll become the first No. 1 overall pick since Travon Walker in 2022 to skip the draft in person
- The Raiders hold the No. 1 pick and are expected to select Mendoza on April 23–25
The Personal Decision
Fernando Mendoza won’t be in Pittsburgh when his name is called. He won’t walk across the stage. He won’t shake Commissioner Roger Goodell’s hand on national television. Instead, he’ll be in Miami with his mother, his family, and the people who matter most to him — on his own terms, in his own place.
Sound familiar?
The Family First Approach
According to multiple reports confirmed Tuesday, the presumptive No. 1 overall pick has informed the NFL he will not attend the 2026 Draft. His reason, per the Las Vegas Review-Journal: his mother, Elsa Mendoza, suffers from multiple sclerosis and uses a wheelchair. The cross-country trip was never going to happen. Mendoza chose presence over prestige, and he’s not apologizing for it.
The last No. 1 pick to skip the draft was Travon Walker in 2022. Before him, Trevor Lawrence in 2021, Baker Mayfield in 2018, and Joe Burrow in 2020. A short list of players who understood that some moments are bigger than the moment itself.
Perfect Raiders Fit
But here’s what makes this one different: the Raiders are about to draft him. And if there’s one franchise in the NFL that understands doing things differently — on your own terms, on your own timeline — it’s the Las Vegas Raiders.
Al Davis moved this team from Oakland to Los Angeles without the NFL’s blessing. He sued the league over it. He abstained from votes. He did things his way, on his terms, and he didn’t care what anyone thought about it. The Raiders have been rebels since long before anyone calling themselves Raider Nation was born.
Walking the Raiders Path Already
Mendoza, just days before becoming a Raider, is already walking that same path. He’s not going to Pittsburgh because he doesn’t want to go to Pittsburgh. He’s staying in Miami with his family because that’s where he needs to be. No drama. No diva act. Just a young man who knows what matters and isn’t interested in performing for anyone who doesn’t get a say.
The Raiders pick him on April 23–25. Commissioner Goodell announces the name. Mendoza finds out somewhere in Miami, surrounded by the people who made him who he is. And somehow, impossibly, it fits perfectly with everything this franchise has ever stood for.
Raider Nation should get used to this. Their quarterback does things his way.
Walk the Plank
The anchors are up, the pleasantries are over, and it is time to see who stays afloat.
The rest of the NFL expects the No. 1 pick to show up. Wear a nice suit. Shake the commissioner’s hand. Smile for the cameras. Be grateful for the moment. Mendoza looked at that list and said: no.
That’s not arrogance. That’s clarity. And if you think about the history of this franchise — Al Davis picking up and moving the entire organization to Los Angeles without asking permission, the lawsuits, the battles, the refusal to bow to league pressure on just about everything — it fits like a glove. The Raiders don’t do things the way everyone else does them. They never have. They never will.
Nowhere does that show up more clearly than in the quarterback position. The Derek Carr era ended because the Raiders wanted a different kind of leader in that room. Kirk Cousins came in on a contract structure the league is still scrambling to close. And in a few weeks, their quarterback of the future will refuse to attend his own draft and nobody in that building will blink an eye.
Because this is exactly who the Raiders are. They do things differently. They always have. And Fernando Mendoza just proved he’s already one of them — before he’s even been drafted.
The deck is cleared. Rebel quarterback, rebel franchise. Sounds about right.
