Two thousand Raiders fans from all over the region converged on the team’s Henderson headquarters to celebrate No. 1 draft pick Fernando Mendoza’s arrival in Las Vegas.
The Festival of Football held Friday was part Day 2 NFL draft party and part the fans’ introduction to the heralded player.
After nearly three hours of enjoying the festivities, Mendoza finally came to the stage, much to the excitement of fans who erupted when they got a glimpse of the future.
“Let’s f—-in’ go,” Mendoza said enthusiastically to the crowd upon his entrance on the stage. “I appreciate you guys coming out.”
The Heisman Trophy-winning college football national champion did a sit-down interview in front of the fans and talked about his excitement of joining the Raiders, getting to learn from team minority owner Tom Brady and being impressed with the team’s practice facility.
“This facility is great, it’s like the Death Star,” Mendoza said. “There’s no excuse for me at this point, because I have all the resources here that I need to get to the level that I want to be.”
After praising what he liked about the Raiders, he proceeded to give the team’s AFC West rivals — the Chiefs, Chargers, and Broncos — a thumbs down as they were named off, while the crowd loudly booed each.
Mendoza’s No. 15 jersey was a hot seller during the event at The Raider Image retail pop-up shop in the Raiders’ practice facility. Fans lined up all night to get their hands on the new QB’s garb.
Jose Toscano from Temecula, California went straight to the retail station to get his Mendoza Raiders jersey. Toscano is a fan of Mendoza, both on and off the field.
“He seems like he’s a good person and then his heritage got him here,” Toscano said.
Michael Gonzales from Arizona is excited for what Mendoza could mean for the Raiders’ future.
“Fernando Mendoza to me, honestly, just the joy that he’s bringing to fans automatically is very contagious,” Gonzales said. That makes me very excited. Then, just having a bright future, we continue to go after quarterbacks kind of past their prime. So, it’s nice to have someone with a fresh slate, not a reputation. It’s nice to have the first pick as well.”
Gonzales said having the event at the Raiders’ headquarters made it a no-brainer to make the trip from Arizona. He said he used to go to the Raiders’ old facility in Alameda, California, so he jumped at the opportunity to check out the team’s new digs.
“It’s really cool,” Gonzales said. “It’s nice to see just the congregation and what they had, right? Because I come from Alameda, where it was just in the middle of a neighborhood and they just had their field kind of outside and it was it was OK facility. This is a world of difference and so it’s really nice that the team has this.”
The draft played live on the screen when the Raiders were set to pick, with cheers being let out when Treydan Stukes, a safety out of Arizona, was selected with the 38th overall pick. They were then greeted by Raiders Pro Football Hall of Famers Tim Brown and Eric Allen.
Brown said he had been texting Mendoza over the last few weeks — something that not all younger players have done in the past, he noted. Brown thinks Raiders fans are in good hands with Mendoza.
“I think the kids this year, I think he’s going to be hardworking and I think he’s going to give the Nation everything that he gets,” Brown said.
Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on X.
