Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza partners with NMSS on fund

National Football League player Fernando Mendoza and his family are partnering with the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS) to fund research and support programs for people with multiple sclerosis (MS).

The Mendoza Family Fund builds on the efforts of Mendoza and his family to raise funds and awareness in honor of his mother, Elsa, who lives with MS.

As quarterback for the Indiana University Hoosiers, Mendoza won the 2025 Heisman Trophy, awarded to the top player in college football. The Las Vegas Raiders recently selected him as the first overall pick in this year’s NFL draft.

Mendoza has personally committed $500,000 to NMSS to fund research at the University of Miami Health System and Miller School of Medicine, NMSS said. Since Elsa’s diagnosis in 2008, the family has raised more than $360,000 through fundraising campaigns and partnerships.

“The Mendoza Family Fund represents the very best of what’s possible when passion meets collective action,” Tim Coetzee, PhD, NMSS president and CEO, said in a society press release. “Through this partnership, we have an opportunity to channel that momentum into critical research and programs that will change lives and ultimately help us end MS.”

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Brothers’ campaigns support communities

Mendoza and his brother Alberto, a quarterback for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, have used their platforms to raise awareness and mobilize communities to support those affected by MS.

Their fundraising efforts began with a partnership between Mendoza and the La Burrita restaurant in Berkeley, California, in which all proceeds from a Cuban-style burrito — a nod to the Mendozas’ Cuban heritage — were donated to NMSS. The campaign raised more than 25 times its original goal. The brothers later established similar partnerships with two restaurants in Bloomington, Indiana.

The Mendoza Family Fund will unite fundraising initiatives including contributions from the family, brand partners, and supporters nationwide. The Mendoza family will help guide funding priorities, ensuring contributions align with areas of personal importance, and allowing NMSS to support research, support programs, and services with the highest impact for those affected by MS.

“My mom has taught our family strength, resilience, and positivity,” Mendoza said. “My brothers Alberto and Max, my dad, and I – we’ve all learned from her example. She’s the reason we fight, and the reason we believe we can do something bigger than ourselves. Partnering with the National MS Society through the Mendoza Family Fund gives us the opportunity to turn that inspiration into real impact by advancing groundbreaking research and helping families like mine navigate this disease.”