{"id":659346,"date":"2026-05-22T23:07:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T23:07:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/659346\/"},"modified":"2026-05-22T23:07:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T23:07:13","slug":"why-fernando-mendoza-was-really-upset-to-be-at-nfl-rookie-event","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/659346\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Fernando Mendoza was &#8216;really upset&#8217; to be at NFL rookie event"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Fernando Mendoza is typically one of the most happy-go-lucky guys in professional football. But he doesn\u2019t mind venting when something stands in his way of getting better on the field. <\/p>\n<p>Mendoza said he was not pleased about having to miss Raiders practice and attend the NFLPA Rookie Premiere in Los Angeles <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/fernando-mendoza-qa-tom-brady-advice-kirk-cousins-step-brothers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">during a Q&amp;A with Sports Illustrated this week.<\/a> <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m going to be completely honest with you.\u201d Mendoza said, \u201cI\u2019d rather be practicing right now, and I was really upset about actually having to miss practice for this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:0.66699219;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"39461297\" width=\"394\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/fernando-mendoza-quarterback-las-vegas-128337093.jpg\" alt=\"Fernando Mendoza posing on the red carpet at the NFLPA Rookie Premiere.\" class=\"wp-image-39461297\"  \/>Fernando Mendoza posing on the red carpet at the NFLPA Rookie Premiere. AP Photo\/Jeff Lewis<\/p>\n<p>The No. 1 pick added that he still enjoyed his time at the mandatory event for the NFL\u2019s top rookies.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not going to feel sorry for myself and feel wishy-washy,\u201d Mendoza said. \u201cI\u2019m going to have a smile on my face and make the most of that present moment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/nflpa.com\/partners\/rp\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">NFLPA Rookie Premiere<\/a> is an annual event that\u2019s taken place for the last 32 years. This year\u2019s event hosted 42 rookies from the 2026 NFL Draft and included Makai Lemon, Carnell Tate, Avell Reese, and Ty Simpson.<\/p>\n<p>The purpose of the event is to provide players mentorship and networking opportunities. It also teaches them about the branding side of professional football.<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:0.63964844;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"39461298\" width=\"377\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/15-las-vegas-raiders-practices-128331175.jpg\" alt=\"Fernando Mendoza #15 of the Las Vegas Raiders practices during an OTA offseason workout.\" class=\"wp-image-39461298\"  \/>Fernando Mendoza at Raiders practice on May 20, 2026. Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>Despite his frustration, Mendoza added that overall he had a good time and learned a lot.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLive and learn all the NFL pay benefits, make all the connections with different mentors here, let me make sure I can maximize my time to be able to create a positive impact and learn about my situation and surroundings,\u201d Mendoza said. \u201cSo those are all things that I really benefited from being here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/05\/03\/sports\/fernando-mendoza-reveals-priorities-as-indiana-white-house-visit-looms\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Mendoza previously skipped a White House visit<\/a> for his national champion Indiana Hoosiers in order to prioritize reps with his new team.<\/p>\n<p>He is expected to start the season as the backup for veteran Kirk Cousins \u2014 but should eventually get a shot under center for the rebuilding Las Vegas squad.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fernando Mendoza is typically one of the most happy-go-lucky guys in professional football. But he doesn\u2019t mind venting&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":659347,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[68073,1812,349,16995,99],"class_list":["post-659346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-fernando-mendoza","tag-las-vegas-raiders","tag-nfl","tag-nflpa","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=659346"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659346\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/659347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=659346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=659346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=659346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}