Either Fernando Mendoza is back on Instagram or the person who runs his account forgot to switch back to his own personal login. The Heisman Trophy winner liked a bikini photo from Gia Duddy.
The soon-to-be first-overall pick in the NFL Draft is thirsting over the ex-girlfriend of Will Levis.
While there is no shame in liking a photo on Instagram, it begs the question of whether Mendoza knows his likes are public. I would guess not. The college football national champion rarely uses social media.
Fernando Mendoza is back on Instagram.
The last few months have been insane for Mendoza. Not only did the Hoosiers finished undefeated in Curt Cignetti’s second season as head coach, which is one of the greatest stories in sports history, their quarterback won every award known to man.
Mendoza has been flying all over the country to accept the awards, in addition to his travel for the College Football Playoff. That does not leave him a lot of time to scroll his For You Page.
Plus, the 22-year-old signal-caller prefers not to have social media on his phone during the season. He wants to avoid all of the outside distractions and criticism.
It was revealed at the Peach Bowl that Mendoza only had LinkedIn and YouTube downloaded to his phone at the time. The focus was on the task at hand.
#Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza on blocking out the spotlight and media attention. Not too hard, he only has YouTube and LinkedIn on his phone right now.
— Maura Carey (@mauracareyAP) January 8, 2026
(Every bit as electric IRL, btw) pic.twitter.com/qRbSzGnhew
Fernando Mendoza has some downtime now that the national championship is over. Kind of.
The Heisman Trophy winner and College Football Playoff offensive MVP traveled all over the country in the last few days. He partied with his team in Miami and Bloomington after the championship. He appeared on CBS Mornings and Good Morning America in New York City on Friday. All of this while turning his focus toward the NFL Draft.
With all of that time on the road and/or in the air, Mendoza has had plenty of time to scroll. It appears as though he is back on Instagram.
Who is Gia Duddy?
Duddy first went viral during the NFL Draft in 2023. She was dating Will Levis at the time, who somewhat unexpectedly slid into the second round.
Although Duddy moved to Nashville for her boyfriend, they ultimately split up prior to his rookie season. That led to a cryptic post about karma and an awkward situation where he got benched in front of his ex.
Now more than two years later, Gia Duddy and Will Levis are on different trajectories.
Levis is an afterthought for the Titans. Duddy’s brand only continues to grow on social media. She has ~325,000 followers on Instagram and ~650,000 followers on TikTok.
We’re going to focus on the former. Duddy recently posted the following images to her feed:
The majority of her vacation dump from Hawaii involved a bikini. Fernando Mendoza liked the post.
This should not be news, but the timing of this like makes for a good story.
Either Mendoza is back on Instagram for the first time since August and immediately liked a thirst trap from Will Levis’ ex-girlfriend on purpose, knowing that his likes are public and does not care, or he liked a thirst trap from Will Levis’ ex-girlfriend, not knowing that his likes are public. There is also the possibility that Mendoza is not yet back on Instagram. Whomever runs his account forgot to switch back to his personal and liked a bikini photo on the quarterback’s behalf. All three scenarios are pretty funny!