Fernando Mendoza reveals advice Tom Brady gave him during Raiders welcome

Fernando Mendoza is bringing a lot of excitement to the Las Vegas Raiders in 2026. The Raiders selected him with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, and he's already cranking the siren at the Vegas Golden Knights games and fitting right in.

One person who's obviously happy about Mendoza coming to Las Vegas is Tom Brady. As a limited partner and minority owner of the Raiders, Brady has a lot at stake when it comes to getting Mendoza in the fold and seeing that he gets the right kind of support to become the next Brady.

During Monday's Raiders 2026 Media Day Live, Mendoza opened up about Brady's support for him, so far, during his journey in the NFL. He even revealed a bit of advice that the former MVP quarterback gave to him.

Development could take time, even for Raiders quarterback Fernando Mendoza

Mendoza, 22, comes to the Raiders with a lot of experience in college football. He led the Indiana Hoosiers to their first national championship ever with an undefeated 16-0 record, and he also scored the program's first Big Ten title since back in 1967. He also won the Heisman Trophy.

Mendoza said that Brady spoke with him during OTAs about being competitive and also being a leader both on and off the field.

"What he says as a quarterback is that you need to be the most everything," Mendoza said. "You need to be the most competitive. You need to have the most leadership. You need to be the toughest, mentally and physically."

He added: "And you need to embody all of these things and lead by example before getting the equity and respect by your teammates in order to lead effectively. So that that really resonated with me."

Mendoza and veteran Kirk Cousins are leading the Raiders' quarterback room in 2026. While Cousins is expected to start in Game 1, it's only a matter of time before Mendoza takes over.