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Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza is opening up about speaking Spanish during his Heisman speech.
On Saturday night, Mendoza won the Heisman award over QBs Julian Sayin and Diego Pavia.
During his speech, the Cuban-American Mendoza spoke Spanish to honor his grandparents, who were in attendance to see him receive the award.
Fernando Mendoza spoke in Spanish for his grandparents in his Heisman winning speech ❤️ pic.twitter.com/UHaqSO92mu
— ESPN (@espn) December 14, 2025
After receiving some backlash from social media, Mendoza explained why it was important for him to speak Spanish during his Heisman speech.
“My heritage is Cuban-American. I was born in America. However, all four of my grandparents were born and raised in Cuba. They lived there, and then they immigrated to the United States, essentially made an American dream, sacrificed so much just for support from parents and then for them my parents that supported myself.”
“Learning about their heritage, you know, actually taking myself back to Cuba when we’re in high school to see where came from. I saw how much it meant to them, and I believe that’s where a lot of the pride comes from. The family, like you see Diego’s family. He had 100 people there too. It was Hispanic culture, Hispanic families so prideful, supportive one another.Thought saying something in Spanish although I want to say on the most fluent. I think conversational in Spanish would mean a lot.”
“To show how much an impact its had myself and then also for the Hispanic community out there because you know there are a lot of Hispanic football fans and it’s something I’m looking forward to represent.”
Fernando Mendoza explains the significance of Hispanic culture in his life.
Notes that he spoke in Spanish during his speech to show how much his family and Hispanic culture mean to him. #iufb pic.twitter.com/K9vs7ub49S
— Ian Plaskoff (@ian_plaskoff) December 15, 2025