April 7, 2026, 6:01 a.m. ET
- Fernando Mendoza, a Heisman Trophy winner and top NFL draft prospect, graduated from UC-Berkeley’s Haas School of Business in three years.
- Mendoza used his name, image, and likeness (NIL) earnings to pay for his final classes and invest in himself.
- He is now partnering with U.S. Bank to promote financial literacy, a subject he is passionate about.
Of the 300 students Steve Etter teaches every semester, more than 95%, according to Etter’s best estimate, perform financial functions via Microsoft Excel.
The vast minority rely on the traditional handwritten method, using formulas, a pencil and a piece of paper. And those who watched college football in 2025 can easily assume which category Fernando Mendoza falls into.
“Fernando is a formula guy,” Etter said. “I guess the way I would say it: he’s a throwback.”
Etter taught Mendoza at the Haas School of Business at the University of California-Berkeley, first in a financial literacy course geared toward athletes and later in corporate finance.
By now, most are aware of Mendoza’s business acumen and the professional path almost taken. Mendoza used his name, image and likeness (NIL) earnings to pay for his final three classes at Haas so he could graduate in three years. He pursued a master’s degree at Indiana University, the school he led to its first national title last season while he took home the Heisman Trophy. Now he’s nearly a lock to be the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft by the Las Vegas Raiders.
“You could just see it. I saw it early with Fernando,” Etter said. “I remember, when he got to Cal, how poised he was. And when you watch that Heisman Trophy speech, he practiced his craft in the classroom, in the locker room, on the field, where he developed that presence over time. He had a mission that you could see his eyes on, and everything he did was to get to that moment.”
Of course, there was the alternate reality in which Cal never offered a scholarship and Mendoza stuck to his plan of attending Yale. Maybe the NFL still would have been an option. But what would have been more likely, Mendoza said, was a career path in finance that would have started on Wall Street as an analyst.
“First of all, I think it would have been a very cool experience, to be around people who are a lot smarter than me and make friends with those people, just like (I did) at Berkeley,” Mendoza told USA TODAY Sports.
During the College Football Playoff, Mendoza confirmed that a LinkedIn account that had gone viral – the internships were legit and included his football captaincies – actually belonged to him. It remains his lone form of social media.
“I think there’s a lot of value in (financial) careers, as not only are you able to support and provide for your family, you can also change other people’s lives, such as U.S. Bank does,” he said.
Mendoza spoke to USA TODAY Sports through his partnership with U.S. Bank and its Financial Edge program. Helping people maximize financial growth is rewarding to Mendoza. With his pro career about to start and one foot dipped into the financial space, he has the “best of both worlds” with this role, he said.
“Who knows, maybe in the future, after football, there can be a career with that,” he said.
Mendoza has leaned on mentors to help him find sucesss both on and off the field. The best business advice Mendoza – who completed 72% of his throws for 3,535 yards with 41 touchdowns and six interceptions last season – has heard is also what football coaches like to espouse: have a growth mindset.
“Financial literacy, it changes every single day,” he said.
Doing things the old-fashioned way, by the book, became Mendoza’s calling card at Cal, Etter said. He led group meetings and performed his part even as “the big man on campus” and the Golden Bears’ starting quarterback.
Etter said Mendoza is somebody who is passionate about his Cuban heritage, his faith, the people around him – and business.
“The four legs of the Fernando chair,” said Etter, who has lectured at Haas for 31 years. “The human being you see and ask yourself, ‘Is this guy real?’ And the answer is yeah. Everything is genuine and from inside.”
Mendoza doesn’t avoid attention. He absorbs the publicity that comes with being a Heisman winner and eventual NFL franchise quarterback without it affecting his attitude toward others, which creates trust and confidence from his colleagues, Etter said.
“A lot of people are out to get notoriety and expand their brand through social media and marketing,” he said. “I see him focused on himself, not focused on his brand. He worries about himself.”
The money Mendoza made from NIL deals helped him finish his Berkeley degree and he also paid for biomedical scans. Other than that, he famously doesn’t spend money on himself.
“My mindset is that if I can invest in the market and invest in myself … whatever that (return) may be, not only in the market, but also in my growth and development, I think that’s the best investment I can make,” Mendoza said.
At Cal, Mendoza had a pair of internships. On top of his football duties, it felt like he was balancing two jobs. His optimistic, happy-go-lucky attitude helped once he realized that his internship was an interview for a full-time job down the line. One summer, he worked for a commercial real estate firm and was asked to run data on an excel sheet. The specifics of the request, however, he underestimated. What Mendoza thought would be an easy task turned into an all-night assignment.
Mendoza likes to think about “inputs and outputs,” which is why “ROI” (return on investment) is his favorite financial acronym. His favorite Excel trick is also relatively rudimentary: “V-lookup.”
“Sometimes,” Mendoza said, “you gotta check it down.”