All About Elsa and Fernando Mendoza Sr.

Fernando Mendoza has already made a name for himself in football, and he’s made it clear that he has his parents, Elsa and Fernando Mendoza Sr., to thank for his career.

The Indiana Hoosiers quarterback is the eldest child of Elsa and Fernando Sr. In addition to Fernando, the couple also raised sons Alberto — who also plays football at Indiana — and Max in Miami.

Just like their dad, Fernando and Alberto attended Christopher Columbus High School. Although the two elder brothers didn’t attend either of their parent’s alma maters, they did follow in their footsteps by playing college sports.

The family of five appear to have a close bond, as Elsa and Fernando Sr. are frequently seen cheering on Fernando and Alberto at Indiana games. Meanwhile, Fernando has credited both of his parents for his work ethic and thanked them for their support over the years.

When Fernando won the Heisman Trophy in December 2025, he emotionally thanked his parents, and called his mom his “biggest supporter.” Fernando and Alberto have also worked together to raise money and awareness for multiple sclerosis, which has affected Elsa for nearly two decades.

Here’s everything to know about Fernando Mendoza’s parents, Elsa and Fernando Mendoza Sr.

Both Elsa and Fernando were college athletes

Fernando inherited athletic genes from both of his parents, as they both played sports at their respective colleges. Fernando Sr. rowed at Brown University, while Elsa played tennis at the University of Miami, per USA Today and the Miami Rowing Club.

Elsa later wrote an emotional letter to her son in The Players’ Tribune in December 2025 where she revealed that she initially was hoping he’d choose a career in tennis.

“My dream was for you to play tennis like I did,” she wrote, while explaining that she’d run him through her college tennis drills when he was a child.

Fernando Sr. won a gold medal in the rowing 1987 Junior World Championships and went on to row crew at Brown, where he studied biology.

He later received his medical degree at the University of Florida College of Medicine before his residency at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami and a fellowship at Boston Medical Center. Fernando Sr. currently works as a medical director at Nicklaus Children’s Health System in Miami, per his bio and LinkedIn.

They are parents to three sons – including Alberto, who is Fernando’s backup quarterback

Elsa and Fernando Sr. both grew up in Miami, but they moved to Boston in their early 20s. While they lived in Boston, Elsa became pregnant with Fernando when she was 25 years old, as she wrote in The Players’ Tribune.

They expanded their family two years later when they welcomed son Alberto. They are also parents to son Max. Just like his older brother, Alberto is also a quarterback. Both Fernando and Alberto led their high school to state football championships during their respective days as head quarterback.

“They definitely push each other,” their high school coach, Dave Dunn, told Indiana Public Media in September 2025. “There’s a deep love, but also a competitive fire that makes both better.”

In 2023, Alberto committed to Indiana and redshirted the following year before he started playing alongside his older brother as the Hoosiers’ backup quarterback in the 2025-2026 season. Alberto later credited Fernando for giving him the push to choose Indiana.

“I think having my little brother there, who’s my best friend and the person who pushes me the hardest, it was great to have that,” Fernando told the Indy Star in January 2025, per USA Today.

Alberto and Fernando even became the first brothers in a decade to both throw touchdown passes in the same game earlier in the season, per Indiana Public Media. The brothers frequently participate in videos and interviews together — including an October 2025 video with JLab Audio where they joked about their family dynamics.

“I would say that I’m the peaceful zen one that always calms it down between all three of us brothers,” Fernando said, before Alberto interrupted him and said that that was “false.”

Meanwhile, Max — who is six years younger than Alberto — has dreams of becoming a sports broadcaster, as he shared with Kelsey Nicole Nelson in December 2025.

Elsa was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis when the boys were young

When Fernando and Alberto were young children, their mom, Elsa, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

“I was diagnosed about 18 years ago, but of course you never knew that,” she wrote for The Players’ Tribune in December 2025. “You and Alberto were so young, and I was doing fine … and mostly I didn’t want you to worry. It just felt like this impossible thing to place on you guys.”

Elsa wrote that she didn’t tell her children about her diagnosis until 2020 when things went “downhill,” and she realized that she couldn’t travel to all their games.

“No amount of years could have prepared me for how hard of a conversation it ended up being,” she recalled. “Your mom has this degenerative disease … and while we don’t know how it will progress, it’s going to start to affect us in a few ways.”

Elsa praised her son for making her diagnosis “so much easier” and acting in the “sweetest, strongest, most Fernando way possible — by making me feel the exact opposite of embarrassed.”

“You’ve made me feel seen,” she continued, while citing the ways he’d give her “full debriefs” of the college visits she couldn’t attend and making her laugh while carrying her up the stairs.

“You’ve always kept that same spark in your eye,” she added. “No matter what kind of state I’ve been in, or day I’ve been having — you’ve never once looked away. You’ve never once treated me like I’m embarrassing, or deficient, or anything other than someone you love and are standing by.”

As Fernando and Alberto’s football profiles have skyrocketed in recent years, they have used their platforms to advocate for MS awareness and launched several fundraisers. They have a fundraising page through the National MS Society and have raised over $100,000 as of early January 2026.

“My mom means the world to me—she’s the most caring and positive person I know—and I’ll keep doing everything I can to support her and others living with MS!” Fernando wrote in the description.

In addition to national efforts, Fernando and Alberto have also worked with several restaurants to create menu items for which the proceeds are donated to the National MS Society.

Fernando has described his mom as his “biggest supporter”

Fernando and his family have had no shortage of public emotional moments. On Dec. 13, 2025, Fernando was awarded the prestigious Heisman Trophy and shed tears while dedicating the honor to his mom in his speech.

“Mami, this is your trophy as much as it is mine,” he said. “You’ve always been my biggest fan. You’re my light, you’re my why, you’re my biggest supporter. Your sacrifices, courage and love, those have been my first playbook and the playbook I’m going to carry by my side throughout my entire life.”

Fernando continued saying, “You taught me that toughness doesn’t need to be loud, it can be quiet and strong. It’s choosing hope. It’s believing in yourself when the world doesn’t give you much reason to. Together, you and I are rewriting what people think is possible.”

In addition to dedicating the award to his mother, Fernando also took time to thank his father for “grounding me” and “holding me accountable.”

“Thank you for reminding me that talent means nothing without discipline and consistency,” he told his father. “While I’m playing a team game, I’m learning to grow into a man, and you personify commitment. You picked all of us up whenever we’ve needed it most.”

Elsa, Fernando Sr. and Max have attended several of Indiana’s recent games — including the 2026 Rose Bowl where the Hoosiers defeated the University of Alabama.

“We’re just really happy for them,” Fernando Sr. told WTHR in a postgame interview. “If anybody’s gonna do it, it’s gonna be Fernando and Alberto. The amount of work and dedication they put in preparing for the games and their love, the passion for football and for each other and for their teammates, I think it shows.”

Elsa called the entire experience a “fairytale” and said that she was “eternally grateful” for the “amazing decision” of having her sons attend Indiana.