Fernando Mendoza’s finance promo has already drawn criticism from NFL veterans. The 2025 Heisman Trophy winner entered Las Vegas as the No. 1 overall pick and backed up the hype with 240 passing yards in his preseason debut. But one comment caught the attention of a veteran who had a very different take on where the rookie’s focus should be.
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The 2025 Heisman Trophy winner, Fernando Mendoza, arrived in Las Vegas as the first overall pick. His preseason debut backed up the hype with 240 passing yards. But one line from his latest venture may have undone it all for a proven veteran who didn’t like Mendoza’s approach.
With his snaps limited to practice reps and clipboard duty on Sundays, Mendoza didn’t sit idle. He redirected his energy toward a different kind of platform, launching “Finance with Fernando,” an educational video series where he will use his business administration degree from UC Berkeley and an MBA from Indiana’s Kelley School of Business to teach Gen Z about finance.
However, that one line was all it took to draw fire from two of the NFL’s most decorated voices. As the promo circulated online, Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski, Tom Brady’s longtime go-to weapons and now analysts on NFL on FOX, called out Fernando Mendoza’s choice of words during a segment on the show.
“I don’t like that he said my true passion. Oh, I mean you don’t like f****** football, kid. That should be your only passion,” Julian Edelman said on the YouTube clip. “You’re the number one pick of the goddamn draft.”
Joining Edelman, Gronkowski also framed his concerns around the QB’s choices. But he was more focused on “priorities and timings” rather than “passion”.
“Don’t be shooting out promos left and right with companies until you start playing and get on the field,” Rob Gronkowski said. “But hey, that one, we’ll take it. No problem. It’s for the positive. It’s for putting people, you know, with their finances in the right direction.”
To further support his statement, Gronkowski cited the example of how he himself made his first $401K in the league by delivering the best football for the franchise.
“I’m Fernando Mendoza, pro quarterback. But my true passion is fiscal responsibility,” Mendoza said in the promo. “Let’s flip and go! So get pumped for my educational video series: Finance With Fernando…a practical guy for Gen Z to make the most of their money. Get up with 401K contributions. And the kicker? I’m giving away the ultimate prize.”
On the field, the Raiders have given the coaching staff every reason to stay patient with the plan. They opened the season 3-0, their best start in years, with Kirk Cousins directing an offense that’s clicked far faster than expected.
Through three games, Cousins completed 67.4% of his passes for 661 yards with nine touchdowns against three interceptions, becoming the first Raiders quarterback since Ken Stabler in 1976 to throw at least three touchdowns in each of his first two starts. In fact, his nine touchdowns currently rank the highest in the league.
Even with Cousins staying the reigning QB for the Raiders, head coach Klint Kubiak has made his expectations clear for his backup.
“Any No. 2 quarterback, they’re listening to the call,” Kubiak said. “They’re saying it in their head what they’d be going through progression-wise, check-wise, putting themselves in the game on every snap.”
Their comments echoed a broader piece of criticism that had already started following Mendoza around. For a rookie who hasn’t yet taken a regular-season snap, the pushback highlights an old-school expectation that’s still very much alive in the league.