{"id":689772,"date":"2026-01-19T22:59:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T22:59:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/689772\/"},"modified":"2026-01-19T22:59:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T22:59:13","slug":"indianas-fernando-mendoza-deleted-every-app-but-linkedin-and-it-might-explain-everything","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/689772\/","title":{"rendered":"Indiana\u2019s Fernando Mendoza deleted every app but LinkedIn \u2014 and it might explain everything"},"content":{"rendered":"

This story is part of Peak, The Athletic\u2019s desk covering the mental side of sports. Sign up for Peak\u2019s newsletter\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the moments after the Big Ten title game, Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza explained the mindset behind his team\u2019s perfect season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it reverts back to the Stoic philosophy,\u201d he said, \u201cof the never-ending journey of the process.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mendoza is the breakout star of this college football season, a Heisman Trophy winner who has guided his team to the College Football Playoff championship game Monday night<\/a>. He\u2019s also a \u201cprocess-driven and detail-oriented leader,\u201d a business student who takes pride in \u201cfostering positive team culture, adapting to new environments and driving success through preparation, accountability and collaboration.\u201d<\/p>\n

If that all sounds like it\u2019s from his LinkedIn bio, well, that\u2019s because it is<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As the Hoosiers cruised toward history, Mendoza deleted all but two apps from his phone: YouTube and LinkedIn.<\/p>\n

Which seems fitting. For 15 games, Mendoza has produced two things: YouTube-worthy highlights on the field and LinkedIn-style leadership advice afterward.<\/p>\n

A talented quarterback who could be the first pick in the 2026 NFL Draft<\/a> in April, Mendoza is also a walking TedTalk \u2014 Tim Tebow with theater kid energy. His postgame interviews are appointment viewing. He is just as likely to reference a Greek philosopher (Epictetus) as he is a gridiron one (Curt Cignetti).<\/p>\n

Thing is, Mendoza doesn\u2019t just quote Stoic philosophers. He embodies their ideas.<\/p>\n

Well, sort of.<\/p>\n

As Mendoza and the Hoosiers prepare for the national title game, they are carrying some of the lessons of Stoicism with them. We\u2019ll explain.<\/p>\n

A key to life is delayed gratification<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s one of the greatest attributes,\u201d Mendoza said earlier this month.<\/p>\n

If anyone would know, it\u2019s Mendoza. There were 133 quarterbacks ranked ahead of him in the 2022 recruiting class<\/a>. He originally committed to Yale. He landed at Cal, where he spent his early days on campus sending in fake signals from the sideline. He focused on the long game \u2014 the art of daily improvement.<\/p>\n

He lined up extra film sessions with an assistant coach. He excelled in the classroom, taking on internships at real estate investment firms<\/a> in the Bay Area. He took notes constantly, consumed by ideas about mental performance.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you ever have delayed gratification \u2014 discipline in yourself and your discipline in your process and preparation,\u201d Mendoza said, \u201cyou\u2019re able to execute every single week.\u201d<\/p>\n

The idea of delayed gratification\u00a0 \u2014 of resisting pleasure in the short term for bigger rewards in the long haul \u2014 has long been associated with the Stoics, said Massimo Pigliucci, a professor of philosophy at the City College of New York. But one important distinction, Pigliucci said, is that Stoic philosophers were not concerned with any form of winning or gratification at all.<\/p>\n

\u201cStoic philosophy is about making yourself into a better human being, meaning a more ethical human being,\u201d he said. \u201cThe Stoics don\u2019t really care whether you accomplish anything in life other than being a nice person.\u201d<\/p>\n

That said, discipline and self-control were core to temperance, which was emphasized by Musonius Rufus, a Roman Stoic philosopher in the first century.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is probably something that athletes especially find useful,\u201d Pigliucci said. \u201cAccording to Musonius, there is a connection between physical and psychological temperance.\u201d<\/p>\n

To be mentally tough requires physical discipline \u2014 and vice versa.<\/p>\n

Where does Mendoza get his toughness? He credits his mother, Elsa, who has lived with multiple sclerosis for nearly two decades.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou taught me that toughness doesn\u2019t need to be loud,\u201d he said while receiving the Heisman Trophy<\/a> in December. \u201cIt can be quiet and strong.\u201d<\/p>\n

The process will take care of the scoreboard<\/p>\n

Before Mendoza won the Heisman, he wrote a speech and rehearsed it. He wasn\u2019t guaranteed to win, but he wanted to be prepared.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe preparation is what leads to confidence,\u201d he told reporters.<\/p>\n

The process was more important than the result. It\u2019s a simple adage that every athlete hears.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Stoic idea is to focus on what\u2019s up to you and to take everything else in stride,\u201d said William O. Stephens, professor emeritus of philosophy at Creighton University.<\/p>\n

The philosophy, Stephens said, originated with Epictetus, a Roman thinker who emphasized controlling what we can control, or as Mendoza put it, \u201cthe never-ending journey of the process.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Cignetti arrived at Indiana before last season<\/a>, he spoke about a simple formula born of the same spirit, of stacking good days on top of good days, of focusing on the moment and ignoring the scoreboard.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne play at a time, six seconds a play, every play\u2019s got a life and a history of its own,\u201d Cignetti said. \u201cPlay every play like it\u2019s 0-0. Don\u2019t be affected by success or failure. Be able to compartmentalize and go to the next play.\u201d<\/p>\n

For an academic studying Stoic philosophy, that\u2019s a familiar mindset.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the things that I find most useful in Stoicism is, in fact, the sharp distinctions that the Stoics draw between your intentions and the outcomes of your actions,\u201d Pigliucci said.<\/p>\n

Likewise, Mendoza believes in more than routine. It\u2019s about having what he has called an \u201cintentional process.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mendoza grew up idolizing Tom Brady, who was famously obsessive about nutrition. Mendoza sleeps more than eight hours a night. He takes copious notes while watching film. His LinkedIn page is detailed and professional, not exactly the kind you\u2019d expect from a future NFL quarterback.<\/p>\n

As his father, Fernando Sr., told The Athletic<\/a>: \u201cHis LinkedIn is for real. That\u2019s a great homage to his true self.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the road to a championship, beware of complacency<\/p>\n

In the final game of the regular season, Indiana destroyed Purdue 56-3.\u00a0The Hoosiers were 12-0 for the first time in school history. But when they watched the film, Cignetti told the group, there would be a lot they needed to clean up.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s about being process-oriented,\u201d Mendoza said. \u201cNever being complacent.\u201d<\/p>\n

The hazards of complacency, Stephens said, can be found in the words of Marcus Aurelius, the Roman emperor whose personal writings were later published under the title, \u201cMeditations.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you get complacent, you don\u2019t recognize the urgency with which you have to work toward moral progress,\u201d Stephens said. \u201cYou gotta work to become virtuous. You have to become wiser, more courageous, more self-controlled.\u201d<\/p>\n

In \u201cMeditations,\u201d Aurelius wrote of a simple morning maxim:\u00a0\u201cAt dawn, when you have trouble getting out of bed, tell yourself: \u2018I have to go to work \u2014 as a human being.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Indiana linebacker Aiden Fisher echoed the sentiment after the Big Ten championship, although he credited Cignetti, not Aurelius, with instilling it in him. \u201cYou have to wake up with a mindset that you\u2019re going to give it your all, and any aspect of your life to improve and make sure you\u2019re not staying complacent,\u201d he told reporters.<\/p>\n

There is a clear irony, Pigliucci said, that athletes competing for a championship would find value in Stoics, who cared little about any trophies or rewards. But perhaps that explains the success. In the weeks before the national championship game, Mendoza kept mentioning Stoic philosophy. He talked about the process, complacency and delayed gratification.<\/p>\n

His citations may not have been perfect \u2014 as Stephens points out, delayed gratification is a modern idea \u2014 but to Mendoza, it was useful all the same.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that our whole thing is not really competing against the opponent,\u201d Mendoza said. \u201cWhich it is, but it\u2019s really competing against ourselves to be the best version of ourselves. And I think that\u2019s why we\u2019re so effective.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This story is part of Peak, The Athletic\u2019s desk covering the mental side of sports. Sign up for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":689773,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5],"tags":[331,339,7,4725,393,49,48,6,4864,156],"class_list":["post-689772","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ncaa-football","tag-college-football","tag-college-sports","tag-football","tag-indiana-hoosiers","tag-las-vegas-raiders","tag-ncaa","tag-ncaa-football","tag-nfl","tag-peak","tag-sports-business"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115924249074942094","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/689772","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=689772"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/689772\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/689773"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=689772"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=689772"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=689772"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}