Florida Senate - 2026                            (NP)    SR 1812
       
       
        
       By Senator Rodriguez
       
       
       
       
       
       40-01810A-26                                          20261812__
    1                          Senate Resolution                        
    2         A resolution recognizing the outstanding performance
    3         of Indiana University quarterback Fernando Mendoza
    4         during the 2025 football season and congratulating him
    5         on his election as the 91st recipient of the Heisman
    6         Memorial Trophy.
    7  
    8         WHEREAS, Fernando Mendoza was born on October 1, 2003, in
    9  Boston, Massachusetts, and was raised in Miami, where he
   10  attended Christopher Columbus High School and played as a
   11  quarterback on the school’s football team, and
   12         WHEREAS, initially committed to Yale University, Fernando
   13  Mendoza ultimately enrolled at the University of California,
   14  Berkeley, where he played from 2022 to 2024, and
   15         WHEREAS, in 2025, Fernando Mendoza transferred to Indiana
   16  University and became the starting quarterback for the Indiana
   17  Hoosiers football team, leading the program to a 16-0 record, a
   18  Big Ten championship, victories in the 2026 Rose Bowl and the
   19  2026 Peach Bowl, and the program’s first No. 1 seed and national
   20  championship victory in the 2026 College Football Playoff, and
   21         WHEREAS, the Miami native finished the 2025 season with
   22  3,535 passing yards and led the nation with 41 passing
   23  touchdowns, while also rushing for 276 yards and 7 additional
   24  touchdowns, and earned multiple major honors, including the
   25  Maxwell Award and the Davey O’Brien Award, and was named the
   26  Associated Press College Football Player of the Year, the Walter
   27  Camp Player of the Year, and the Big Ten Offensive Player of the
   28  Year and Quarterback of the Year, and
   29         WHEREAS, on December 13, 2025, Fernando Mendoza was awarded
   30  the 91st Heisman Memorial Trophy as the most outstanding player
   31  in college football, achieving a historic victory by leading all
   32  six Heisman regions in voting and becoming the first player in
   33  Indiana University history to receive the award, and
   34         WHEREAS, Fernando Mendoza is the first Cuban American and
   35  the third Latino to win the Heisman Memorial Trophy, marking a
   36  milestone for Cuban-American and Latino athletes in college
   37  sports, and
   38         WHEREAS, Fernando Mendoza’s achievements have brought
   39  national recognition to Indiana University and his hometown of
   40  Miami and serve as an inspiration to young athletes,
   41  particularly in the Cuban-American and Latino communities, NOW,
   42  THEREFORE,
   43  
   44  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
   45  
   46         That the Florida Senate recognizes the outstanding
   47  performance of Indiana University quarterback Fernando Mendoza
   48  during the 2025 football season and congratulates him on his
   49  election as the 91st recipient of the Heisman Memorial Trophy.
   50         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution, with
   51  the Seal of the Senate affixed, be presented to Fernando Mendoza
   52  as a tangible token of the sentiments of the Florida Senate.