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(Photo by Michael Reaves\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Anyone that was expecting to see Fernando Mendoza potentially wearing a Las Vegas Raiders<\/a> hat with the jersey while taking a picture with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell will be disappointed. <\/p>\n On April 7, ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter reported<\/a>, citing sources, that Mendoza won\u2019t be attending the 2026 NFL<\/a> Draft on April 23 in Pittsburgh. Furthermore, Schefter\u2019s report reveals that the former Indiana Hoosiers<\/a> QB wants to share the draft experience with his family in Miami.<\/p>\n Nonetheless, with many projecting Mendoza to go No. 1 to the Raiders, WFAN\u2019s Craig Carton is criticizing the draft prospect for choosing not to be in attendance.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that stinks,\u201d Carton said in an April 8 video from \u201cThe Craig Carton Show.\u201d<\/a> \u201cI respect the fact you want to be with your family. Guess what? Your family\u2019s invited to go to Pittsburgh and be part of the draft there. I think that there is a bit of a responsibility to be there. You are the first\u2011overall draft pick. You are special, and your drafting signifies, bang, we\u2019re ready for another season of NFL football. <\/p>\n \u201cI think you should get your a\u2013 to the draft. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s asking too much for you to get on a private jet, fly to Pittsburgh with all of your family and be there so when your name gets called, you walk out on that stage, you dap up the awkward commissioner, you hug him, you rock the Raider jersey and you say, \u2018I am proud to be in the NFL.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Craig Carton Understands Fernando Mendoza\u2019s Mom\u2019s Situation<\/p>\n Carton did address that Mendoza\u2019s mom has multiple sclerosis (MS) and is using a wheelchair. Still, the radio host noted that the NFL could make any accommodations for her that would allow for the projected No. 1 overall pick to be in attendance in Pittsburgh. <\/p>\n \u201c[Mendoza\u2019s mom] has MS, and I know she was able to attend, thankfully, every one of the [college football] playoff games and the national championship game,\u201d Carton added. \u201cShe was there in a special handicap section, and I am sensitive to that. I think if you can make accommodations for her to come, you\u2019ve got to get your a\u2013 to the NFL draft.\u201d<\/p>\n Raiders QB Kirk Cousins Gets Blunt About Fernando Mendoza<\/p>\n Nonetheless, whether or not Mendoza is in attendance, all signs point to him being a Raider. Moreover, his potential new teammate, Kirk Cousins, is already talking about the young QB as if he were already a member of the Silver and Black. <\/p>\n \u201cHonestly, I don\u2019t want to start unless I\u2019m the best option,\u201d\u00a0Cousins said on the April 8 edition of \u201cGood Morning Football.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0\u201cI told Klint the best players should play. As long as that\u2019s the case, I have no qualms with however it plays out. I do think Fernando is going to be a great addition to our team.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s going to have a great future in the league. I have no problem being a voice in the room to help him to the degree that I can. He\u2019s going to have great support all around him from the coaching staff. Being able to watch a veteran quarterback go through his habits, routines, and process can be a great asset for him.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tEduardo Razo<\/a> Eduardo Razo is a sports writer for Heavy.com, covering the NFL, MLB, and college football. He has previously covered the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB for NBC Sports Washington and NBC Sports Bay Area & California, and has freelanced for PSG Talk, covering Paris Saint-Germain. He also worked as an editor at Athlon Sports, focusing on MLB and the NFL. More about Eduardo Razo<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Raiders\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty (Photo by Michael Reaves\/Getty Images) Anyone that was expecting to see Fernando Mendoza potentially wearing a Las…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":586251,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2065],"tags":[7,1744,393,2455,2454,6,525],"class_list":{"0":"post-862261","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-las-vegas-raiders","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-las-vegas","10":"tag-las-vegas-raiders","11":"tag-lasvegas","12":"tag-lasvegasraiders","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-raiders"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116374537719223430","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/862261","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=862261"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/862261\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/586251"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=862261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=862261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=862261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}