Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Fernando Mendoza wants to help make a difference for people who, like his mom, are living with multiple sclerosis, or MS, a chronic condition that attacks and damages the body’s nervous system.
On Thursday, the Christopher Columbus High School alum came back to Miami to personally deliver the $500,000 check he promised to the University of Miami Health System and University of Miami Miller School of Medicine to help fund research and support programs for MS patients, including new clinical trials that will test whether stem cells can be used to slow and reverse the condition’s debilitating symptoms.
The donation is part of a new partnership between the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and Mendoza’s family, which launched the Mendoza Family Fund to help raise money for research, treatment and support for MS.
“Today isn’t about football. It’s about my mom,” an emotional Mendoza said during Thursday’s news conference.
“Mommy, thank you for showing me what real strength looks like,” he said. “Everything I’ve accomplished starts with you.”
The gift to UHealth and UM’s medical school, which was announced earlier this year, is an “investment in discovery, an investment in innovation, and most importantly an investment in hope,” said Dr. Henri R. Ford, dean and chief academic officer of UM’s Miller School of Medicine.
The gift will help support “regenerative therapies, expanded access and will push the boundaries of discovery to identify solutions that have the potential to change the lives for generations of patients and families.”
Fernando Mendoza, Heisman Trophy winner from Miami, right, puts his arm around his mother, Elsa, while his father, Fernando Sr., looks on after donating a $500,000 check from the Mendoza Family Fund on Thursday, July 9, 2026. Alie Skowronski
MS is an autoimmune disorder where the immune system “mistakenly attacks healthy cells,” according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. MS symptoms vary by person and can depend on where in the nervous system — and how severe — the damage is, though common symptoms include numbness, vision changes and difficulty walking, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Researchers don’t know yet what exactly causes MS, a condition that is estimated to affect 1 million people in the country. There is no cure yet, though treatments do exist to help manage symptoms.
The Mendoza family hopes their donation will help bring researchers like Dr. Flavia Nelson closer to a cure. Nelson is a professor of neurology at the University of Miami and the director of the Multiple Sclerosis Center of Excellence. She’s leading a clinical trial testing a stem cell treatment to see if it can help repair advanced MS-related damage in patients and improve their ability to walk and function.
“Families like mine may never understand every clinical trial, research project or scientific breakthrough, but we understand what your work means,” a teary-eyed Fernando said shortly after hugging Nelson. “It means families like mine understand that they have the best working beside them, it means that parents have more reasons to believe they’re going to have treatments and cures in their lifetime, and it means that sons and daughters like myself and my brothers believe in a better future than past.”
Mendoza, his brother Alberto and their family have previously helped raise over $360,000 through DIY fundraising efforts, including partnering with a California restaurant to launch a “Mendoza Burrito” to help raise funds for the National MS Society and raise awareness about the disease, according to the National MS Society.
Mendoza’s decision to select UM to be the fund’s first official recipient is a full-circle moment for the South Florida native. His mom, Elsa, once played on the Miami Hurricanes women’s tennis team, according to USA Today.
Mendoza has his own history with the U.
Mendoza, who was denied a walk-on spot to play for the Miami Hurricanes, earlier this year led the Indiana Hoosiers to victory against the Hurricanes, defeating the team 27-21 during the CFP National Championship at Hard Rock Stadium, securing Indiana’s first national title.
“To all those families living with MS, you are not alone. There is hope. There are people like Dr. Nelson and her team dedicating their life to the fight,” the second-generation Cuban American said in Spanish. “There are always reasons to believe in a better tomorrow. Thank you and may God bless you.”
This article will be updated.
Miami Herald
Michelle Marchante covers the pulse of healthcare in South Florida and also the City of Coral Gables. Before that, she covered the COVID-19 pandemic, hurricanes, crime, education, entertainment and other topics in South Florida for the Herald as a breaking news reporter. She recently won first place in the health reporting category in the 2025 Sunshine State Awards for her coverage of Steward Health’s bankruptcy. An investigative series about the abrupt closure of a Miami heart transplant program led Michelle and her colleagues to be recognized as finalists in two 2024 Florida Sunshine State Award categories. She also won second place in the 73rd annual Green Eyeshade Awards for her consumer-focused healthcare stories and was part of the team of reporters who won a 2022 Pulitzer Prize for the Miami Herald’s breaking news coverage of the Surfside building collapse. Michelle graduated with honors from Florida International University and was a 2025 National Press Foundation Covering Workplace Mental Health fellow and a 2020-2021 Poynter-Koch Media & Journalism fellow.
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