Tom Brady is not exactly hiding how he feels about Fernando Mendoza.
The Raiders minority owner has already made it clear he plans to push the young quarterback, and before Mendoza even officially suited up in Silver and Black, Brady was telling him he would have to earn everything. That message fit the public line Brady took last week on FOX Business, where he described Mendoza as just another rookie who still has to prove himself.
"I love Fernando, but Fernando is like every other young rookie. He's got to go out there and earn it like everybody else," Brady said.
"And I'm excited about the opportunity for our team to have him as the first overall pick; he's done a lot of hard work to get to this point. But at the same time, like everyone at their age, none of these young players, none of these rookies, have ever had a meaningful snap in the NFL.
Their career and their journey will be determined by the work that they put in, by the adversities that they overcome, by the kind of teammate and team player that they are."
That sounded like the safe, measured answer. But Brady didn’t stop there.
A few days later at Fanatics Fest, he showed off a Fernando Mendoza rookie football card - a one-of-one, and the only one of its kind. Brady said he tracked it down and bought it himself.
"There happens to be a first overall pick that plays for the Raiders. There's a Fernando Mendoza card that came out that I said, 'I need this.'
I found it, and I got it," Brady said, flashing the card. "My first NFL auto[graph card], one of one.
I know how hard he works, he's got a great family, and he's coming to a great environment for success. So, I figured, got to invest in it ...
Ended up paying a very hefty price. It's a true win-win.
I get the card that I want, it's gonna bring our team a lot of luck, and it's going to hopefully launch Fernando into a great young career."
The business side is hard to miss here. Brady has a major sponsorship deal with Fanatics, which owns Topps, and he also owns 16 card shops under the CardVault by Tom Brady name. He displayed a Topps card to the crowd, too.
But from the Raiders’ point of view, the bigger takeaway is simple: Brady is putting real money behind Mendoza. For a minority owner to buy a card like that says plenty about how he views the quarterback’s future in Las Vegas.
And no, Brady wasn’t doing this for Ashton Jeanty last year, and he doesn’t appear to be doing it for anyone else on the roster now. That makes the Mendoza move stand out all the more. Raider Nation will be hoping Brady’s confidence pays off.
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