Fernando Mendoza Shares Touching Message For Mom Amid Her MS Battle

For Fernando Mendoza, one of his biggest moments away from football came on his mother Elsa's birthday. The Las Vegas Raiders rookie quarterback marked the day with a childhood photo on Instagram, showing himself sitting on Elsa's lap beside a birthday cake. Mendoza's message came as Elsa continued living with multiple sclerosis, a condition she was diagnosed with in 2008. Even after being in a wheelchair, she has continued making efforts to attend her son's games, making the birthday tribute especially personal.

Fernando Mendoza celebrates his mom

Mendoza kept his birthday message short but meaningful. He shared the old family photo and wrote, “Happy birthday Mami (with a heart emoji),” giving his followers a glimpse of the bond he has shared with Elsa since childhood.

That connection had been visible long before Mendoza reached the NFL. In December 2025, after winning the Heisman Trophy, he turned his acceptance speech into another tribute to his mother. With tears in his eyes, Mendoza said, “Mami, this is your trophy as much as it is mine.”

He then credited Elsa for shaping the way he handled difficult moments. “You've always been my biggest fan. You're my light, you're my ‘why,' you're my biggest supporter,” Mendoza said with tears in his eyes during the ceremony. Elsa had written about that relationship herself in a letter to her son before the Heisman ceremony. She described him as her “gentle giant” and said his achievements had nothing to do with how proud she was of him. For Elsa, it was the person Fernando had become that mattered most.

Fernando Mendoza's bond with his mother

Elsa's battle with MS had been part of the family's story as Mendoza moved through college football. In her letter, she recalled how her son called her before big games she had to miss because of treatment and how he stayed involved in her life as her condition became harder to manage.

She wrote that Mendoza had never looked away from her struggles or treated her differently because of them. She said he continued to make her feel like the same mother he had known since their first Boston winter together.

Mendoza's journey had also taken him from Indiana to the Raiders after he became the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. His family had another quarterback to follow, too. His younger brother Alberto was Georgia Tech's starting quarterback, leaving Elsa and Fernando Sr. with difficult weekend choices. For Mendoza, though, his latest birthday post brought the focus back to the woman who had been beside him from the beginning.