Fernando Mendoza shell-shocked by outrageous joke about handcuffs, as he desperately chases Tom Brady's mentorship

An NFL team looked Fernando Mendoza in the eye at the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine and told him, “Hey, maybe you should get arrested.” The suggestion was simple: create a problem big enough to scare the top of the board.That is what the Indiana quarterback, fresh off a Heisman Trophy and national title, told CBS Sports’ Aditi Kinkhabwala during interviews in Indianapolis this week.

Fernando Mendoza says a team joked about him getting arrested so he could fall out of the No. 1 pick

Mendoza said the line came from a team he did not meet with formally but that still wanted a chance at him if he slipped. When Kinkhabwala asked for the most bizarre thing he had heard during the process, he went straight to that exchange.“It was, ‘Hey, maybe you should get arrested,’” Mendoza said with a smile, explaining the comment was about helping him “slide” in the 2026 NFL Draft.

“Hopefully, I don’t get arrested.”Teams have a history of testing prospects with strange questions at the combine, but joking about an arrest underlines how far out in front Mendoza is in this quarterback class. The Las Vegas Raiders hold the No. 1 pick and need a long-term starter, so clubs stuck lower in the order are already searching for any hope he falls.

A lightly regarded recruit who began his career at California, Mendoza transferred to Indiana and turned into one of the most productive players in the country.

In 2025, he led the Hoosiers to a 16-0 season, a College Football Playoff national championship win over Miami and a Heisman Trophy.He completed 72% of his passes for 3,535 yards, 41 touchdowns and six interceptions, while adding 276 rushing yards and seven scores.

Fernando Mendoza is already thinking about what he can learn from Tom Brady if the Raiders take him No. 1

The Raiders’ spot at the top of the draft makes Mendoza the obvious projection, and the idea of landing in Las Vegas clearly appeals to him. The franchise has minority owner Tom Brady in the building, and Mendoza has been open about what that would mean.“I mean, who hasn’t admired Tom Brady?” Mendoza told ESPN on Friday. “That opportunity would be fantastic.”“Tom Brady, I believe, was the greatest quarterback of all time by a wide margin and to be able to have the opportunity to be mentored by him, it would mean so much,” Mendoza said. “And to potentially have a mentor like that, it’d be pretty impressive and pretty meaningful.”For now, Mendoza is running through combine interviews while coaches and scouts study his film and personality. The arrest line will sit as one of this week’s viral moments, but the bigger point is clear: he is the quarterback everyone else is trying to pry away from the Raiders.Unless something drastic happens between now and April, he will not need handcuffs to end up in silver and black.