Fernando Mendoza Shares Emotional Moment with His Mom, Who Has MS, After Winning College Football Championship
- - Fernando Mendoza Shares Emotional Moment with His Mom, Who Has MS, After Winning College Football Championship
Skyler CarusoJanuary 21, 2026 at 1:14 AM
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Grace Hollars/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Indiana Hoosiers quarterback Fernando Mendoza embraces his mom on the field after defeating the Miami Hurricanes in the 2026 College Football Playoff National Championships. -
Fernando Mendoza shared an emotional moment with his mom, Elsa, after the Indiana Hoosiers won the College Football Playoff National Championships on Jan. 19
The Indiana quarterback shed tears of joy as he hugged his mom, who has multiple sclerosis, and family on the field
Mendoza led his team to their first-ever national championship
It was a night the Mendoza family will never forget!
Fernando Mendoza relished in the joys of his team's history-making win with his mom, Elsa, after he led the Indiana Hoosiers to a 27-21 victory over the Miami Hurricanes in the College Football Playoff National Championship final on Monday, Jan. 19.
After the game, the Hoosiers quarterback, 22, shared a sweet, emotional embrace with his mom, Elsa Mendoza, on the field in Miami. Fernando leaned down to speak with his mom, who has lived with multiple sclerosis for nearly two decades and now uses a wheelchair, before giving her a big hug.
Grace Hollars/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Fernando Mendoza hugs his mom while surrounded by family, friends and cameras on the field after Indiana defeated Miami in the College Football Playoffs National Championship Game on Jan. 19, 2026.
Mendoza then turned to his father, also named Fernando, and shared another embrace after Indiana capped a Cinderella season to win its first-ever national championship. His brother, Alberto, also joined in the celebration as Indiana's backup quarterback.
Elsa, who has lived with multiple sclerosis for nearly two decades and now uses a wheelchair, spoke with The Sporting Tribune alongside her husband, also named Fernando Mendoza, about their son's win.
All the feels 🤗This was such a great moment between Fernando Mendoza and his mother, Elsa. pic.twitter.com/4TZZkk9D4T
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) January 20, 2026
"It's so overwhelming. I don't even know what I'm feeling. It's like a numbness," the proud mom told the outlet. "Every hug with him, I know that sounds so cliché, but this is just so special because I know how bad he wanted it and how hard he worked to get here."
She added, "That hug means the world."
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Grace Hollars/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Elsa Mendoza, mother of Indiana Hoosiers quarterback Fernando Mendoza, celebrates after her son's team won the 2026 College Football Playoff National Championships.
The Indiana victory was one for the record books, capping a perfect 16-0 season. After the team went 3-9 in 2023, coach Curt Cignetti turned around what was once the worst team in college football history, with the most losing seasons of any team, in two years.
"It took a lot to get here. But I'll tell you what it took to come out ahead in this game: It took a lot of guts," Cignetti said after the game, reports USA Today. "We won the national championship at Indiana University. It can be done."
In December, Mendoza told PEOPLE exclusively that his mom is his reason "why," one week prior to winning the 2025 Heisman Trophy.
David Rosenblum/Icon Sportswire via Getty
Fernando Mendoza #15 of the Indiana Hoosiers raises the trophy after the Indiana Hoosiers win the 2026 College Football Playoff National Championship Game.
“It's that unwavering optimism that she gives me that really helps me go through my day,” Mendoza, who works with the National MS Society on behalf of his mom, shared about Elsa. “And she's so special to me."
He added, "And to see her is such an inspiration to me. I'm so lucky to have someone like that in my life."
Elsewhere during his catchup with PEOPLE, Mendoza opened up about his shameless emotions expressed on the field, specifically in regard to his now-viral postgame interview after Indiana dispatched Ohio State in the Big 10 championship game.
“It was just genuine raw motion,” Mendoza said at the time, joking, “Maybe it was a little too much.”
The QB added, "I was really, really happy for my team, and at the same time I didn't wanna say anything cliche, you know, like ‘everything is possible.’ So I just wanted to keep it down and keep it authentic and just give the world my real self."
on People
Source: “AOL Sports”
