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What Fernando Mendoza Posted to LinkedIn After Being Drafted By Raiders

He even starred in a LinkedIn commercial on Thursday night.
Madison Williams|
Fernando Mendoza starred in a LinkedIn commercial after being drafted No. 1 overall by the Raiders.
Fernando Mendoza starred in a LinkedIn commercial after being drafted No. 1 overall by the Raiders. | LinkedIn/Screengrab

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Over the past couple years, Fernando Mendoza’s gone viral a couple times for posting his big football moments on his LinkedIn profile. When he won the national championship with Indiana in January, for instance, he posted on the business-focused social media website. When Mendoza declared for the draft back in January, the national champion updated his status to being “Open to Work.”

So, it was only fitting that Mendoza, the No. 1 pick on Thursday night by the Raiders, would continue his quirky tradition by posting his draft status on LinkedIn: He had to let his followers know he “found work.” He also updated his work experience section of his profile to being an “NFL quarterback.” This is the brag he thinks it is. We love that Mendoza continued this bit even into the start of his NFL career.

“It’s official. Grateful for the opportunity and ready to get to work! 🏈🙏” Mendoza wrote.

The Raiders followed suit by posting their own social clip of the team searching Mendoza’s name on the app. Clever marketing all around.

The rookie quarterback even partnered with LinkedIn for the draft on Thursday night. Shortly after Mendoza was selected first overall by Las Vegas, a commercial premiered on ESPN featuring Mendoza for LinkedIn. The commercial was cleverly set up to appear that Mendoza was being interviewed by an ESPN reporter in his home, similarly to how he spoke to the network’s Taylor McGregor after being drafted. However, the quarterback interrupts the “interview” to change his LinkedIn status.

“It is such a blessing. Ope, one second,” Mendoza said while pulling out his phone. “I need to post on LinkedIn.”

Mendoza will be a fun new NFL star to watch on and off the field—he has so much personality that’s already caused him to go viral on various occasions. You can feel his joy radiating off of him in the video the Raiders posted shortly after Mendoza was drafted.

“Shoutout to Raiders Nation, let’s go Raiders! Silver and black, excited to get to work, let’s go.”

Mendoza’s taking full advantage of the night, arguably one of the best nights of his life, with all these viral moments already.

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Madison Williams
MADISON WILLIAMS

Madison Williams is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated, where she specializes in tennis but covers a wide range of sports from a national perspective. Before joining SI in 2022, Williams worked at The Sporting News. Having graduated from Augustana College, she completed a master’s in sports media at Northwestern University.

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