Fernando Mendoza is always taking notes, by hand, a habit that could see him turn around a dormant franchise.
Back in high school Mendoza would skip lunch with his classmates and spend time with his head coach, taking notes to prepare for practice.
That habit has carried over to the NFL, where Mendoza is logging his own progress with hand written notes.
“[He] didn’t have the neatest handwriting, but I appreciated him doing that. I said, ‘Maybe you could type this next time,'” Raiders’ quarterbacks coach Mike Sullivan told ESPN. “But he went through that process, and he’s someone that I think a lot of his confidence comes from the preparation and the type of time and effort that he puts in.”
And it isn’t just for football. Mendoza went to brunch with Tom Brady and Travis Scott, with his notepad handy.
“It was a private brunch, lunch, there were a lot of great lessons about leadership, playing, accountability, business,” Mendoza told Sports Illustrated. “It was all over the place, but the one consistent variable was that it was quality information and it’s information that I wrote down on a notepad. I’ll be able to digest it when I read it back tonight and for the future.”
Handwriting notes and reviewing them could be the key to Mendoza remembering everything he needs to become a star quarterback. As The Athletic noted, Mendoza’s process is the best way to recall information.
“Years of research on college students has shown that taking notes by hand can lead to better learning outcomes and higher grades than typewritten notes — but only when students engage in a detailed review process,” Rustin Dodd wrote.
The Fate of an Organization
As the first-overall pick in the draft, Mendoza will wear heavy expectations in Las Vegas. But the Raiders have elected to play it slow with their quarterback. Kirk Cousins will start the season under center while Mendoza watches from the sideline.
The Raiders don’t want to put Mendoza on the field until he is ready. Las Vegas doesn’t really care about winning in 2026; they care about setting up Mendoza for years of success.
General manager John Spytek and head coach Klint Kubiak would rather see Mendoza scribbling in a notepad all season than hitting the field before he is fully prepared.
But Mendoza’s career won’t be defined by what he writes down, but rather, how he translates those notes on the field will determine if the Raiders’ rebuild is a success.
