Why Mendoza Is Skipping the Draft

Fernando Mendoza joined the show a few days before the draft to explain why he will not be in Pittsburgh on Thursday night and what's been running through his head as the projected first overall pick.

Rich opened with a question he uses with his own kids. Nervous or excited? What word fits? Mendoza coined a new one on the spot. Nervoused. A celebration of a start, not a finish line. The realization hit on his top-30 visits. You're about to be in these NFL facilities. Get ready to rock and roll. You're going to be an NFL player.

The resilience question pulled the conversation somewhere personal. Rich pointed out that Mendoza took hits in the Big Ten championship game against Ohio State, took the punishment, kept playing. Where does that come from?

Mendoza said his mother. She struggles with multiple sclerosis and he watches her fight every day with a smile on her face. That's the baseline. There is no excuse for a bad day, a bad play, or a bad game when that is what resilience looks like in his own house. He told Rich he tries to serve his teammates whatever the team needs, whether that's running up the middle, throwing on the outside, whatever the call is.

Rich pushed on a scenario. What if the plan is to sit him behind a veteran like Kirk Cousins to learn the playbook? Mendoza answered without hedging. He'll sit down. Coaches are coaches because they make the best decisions. Sitting doesn't mean he stops competing. He called learning from a veteran a great opportunity and said whatever the organization decides, he'll do with a smile.

The reason he will not be in Pittsburgh is his mother. She wanted the draft night at home. The family situation made it easier. Mendoza has to be on a plane the next morning anyway. Staying home lets him make the memory with the full network of people who poured into his journey, mentors, coaches, family, friends, rather than the ten or twelve he could bring to Pittsburgh. He committed to being a good league partner, as many cameras as ESPN wants, whatever they need. But the start of this journey belongs with the people who got him here.

The answer was about where his mom can be. That is the story.