Fernando Mendoza has officially been crowned as the 2025 Heisman trophy winner after receiving a total of 2,362 votes. Before we get to his acceptance speech, however, here’s a bit of historical context to help you digest what just happened.
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The Indiana Hoosiers’ football program was originally conceived in 1885, shortly after Carl Benz had created what was quite literally the first ever motor car. In March of that same year, a man by the name of Dr. John Harvey Kellogg filed a patent for “flaked cereal,” but everyone was too busy to notice, as they were likely reading Mark Twain’s newly released novel, Huckleberry Finn.
Suffice to say, a lot of time has passed since then, and only now, in Mendoza, do the Hoosiers finally have their first-ever Heisman trophy winner. And as for the speech, well, Mendoza’s message proved to be as timely as ever.
“I want every kid out there who feels overlooked to know – I was you,” the 22-year-old noted as he stared directly into the camera. “I was that kid too. I was in your shoes… I hope this moment shows you that chasing your dreams are worth it no matter how big or impossible they seem.”
Funnily enough, the main themes of Mendoza’s speech, those being hard work and determination, run parallel to those of another historic speech that was given by none other than Tom Brady himself. During his induction into the New England Patriots’ Hall of Fame, the seven-time Super Bowl winner proclaimed that,
“The truth is, you don’t have to be special. You just have to be what most people aren’t; Consistent, determined, and willing to work for it. No shortcuts… Life is hard. No matter who you are, there are bumps and hits and bruises along the way. And my advice is to prepare yourself, because football lessons teach us that success and achievements come from overcoming adversity.”
It’s unlikely that Mendoza was intentionally trying to steal a page out of Brady’s public speaking book, but his message rings just as true. After all, he too used to be a kid who sat at home and watched Brady compete on Sunday afternoons, just like the rest of us.
The only difference is that Mendoza took the hard route. His football dreams didn’t stop when the game ended or when the channel was turned to something else; he kept going, and that irrefutable drive has now made him a Heisman winner and a betting favorite to take home the last bit of important hardware that remains, the College Football National Championship.
