Fernando Mendoza: Having a mentor like Tom Brady would be pretty meaningful

If — or probably more like when — quarterback Fernando Mendoza is selected by the Raiders at No. 1 overall in this year's NFL Draft, he'll join a franchise that is partly owned by Tom Brady.

As General Manager John Spytek said earlier this week at the scouting combine, Brady would clearly be a great mentor to any young quarterback as the best to ever play the position.

So how would Mendoza feel about heading to Las Vegas and being mentored by Brady?

"Yeah, I mean, who hasn’t admired Tom Brady? More Super Bowl rings than anybody. So, that opportunity would be fantastic," Mendoza said in his Friday morning press conference. "Tom Brady, I believe, is the best quarterback of all time by a wide margin. And to be able to have the opportunity to be mentored by him, it would mean so much. Especially to learn, and I’m all about learning, so Day 1, I’ve got to learn a lot. It’s going to be a long journey. And to potentially have a mentor like that would be pretty impressive and pretty meaningful."

Brady and much of the Raiders' brass were in South Florida to watch Mendoza and the Hoosiers play the Hurricanes in the national championship game last month. Mendoza said he wasn't aware of that until after the game, though it's not as if Mendoza could've had any contact with the team at that time. But generally, Mendoza said he was glad his teammates were able to get more playing time in front of NFL decision-makers because they'd all like to play in the league.

But at the combine, Mendoza was able to talk with Brady — albeit for a short time.

"When I walked in the formal interview with the Raiders, I was able to say a brief ‘hi’ on the phone with Brady," Mendoza said. "So, that was very special for me. Looking forward to seeing him in person, hopefully, one day and learning from him."