Fernando Mendoza, Diego Pavia make history as Heisman finalists
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José de Jesus Ortiz, Founder & Editor in Chief
- December 9, 2025
Fernando Mendoza, Diego Pavia are first pair of Latino Heisman finalists in same year
Fifty five years after Jim Plunkett became the first Latino to win the Heisman Trophy, Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza and Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia combined to make more history as the first pair of Latinos to be named Heisman finalists in the same year.
For the first time since the Downtown Athletic Club Trophy was first awarded to University of Chicago halfback Jay Berwanger in 1935, there will be two Latino finalists at the ceremony in New York. Mendoza, Pavia, Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin and Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love were named Heisman finalists on Monday.
It’s yet another historic achievement for Latinos in college football this year. Last week, Texas Tech linebacker Jacob Rodriguez became the first Latino to win the Butkus Award.
“To be able to have that opportunity and honor to be able to not only do something for yourself but also to glorify into a nationality and to put on for a larger audience is always such an honor and great opportunity,” the Cuban American Fernando Mendoza said a few weeks ago. “That is something like we talked about before, it’s my why.
“It’s not only my family, it’s the people around me, whether it’s the program, my nationality, and then it’s God.”
Both sets of Mendoza’s grandparents were born in Cuba. He and his younger brother Alberto, his backup quarterback at Indiana, were raised in Miami by Cuban American parents. Pavia is a Mexican American from New Mexico.
‘Playing for more’
“Our entire family comes from a Cuban background,” Fernando Mendoza said. “All of our grandparents were born and raised in Cuba, and that’s something we always take deeply to heart. Alberto and I visited Cuba one time back in high school.
“That’s something that’s always in the back of our mind, not only playing for ourselves, but playing for more, whether it’s our family, our nationality, or God.”
Mendoza, who led the No. 1 Hoosiers to the Big Ten title, and Pavia could become just the third Latino winners of the Heisman Trophy. They’ll follow Mexican Americans Plunkett and Bryce Young, the Alabama quarterback who won the award in 2021.
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To appreciate how rare this Heisman race is, it’s important to understand that Latinos have received Heisman votes in only five of the 90 elections – 1969, 1970, 2021, 2022 and 2025. Plunkett (1969, 1970) and Young (2021 and 2022) each earned votes in two years.
Until this year, Plunkett, Young and former Ole Miss quarterback Matt Corral were the only three Latinos to have received any Heisman votes. Corral, another Mexican American from California, finished seventh when Young won the Heisman in 2021.
Rare company
Considering the strong Heisman campaign for Rodriguez, it’s likely that this will be the first year that at least three Latinos receive Heisman votes. Texas A&M junior KC Concepcion, a Hornung Award finalist, might make it four.
Plunkett was the first Latino to earn Heisman votes when he finished seventh in 1969, the year Oklahoma running back Steve Owens won. Plunkett received 21 first-place votes, 16 second-place votes and 25 third-place votes in 1969.
A year later, Plunkett cruised easily past Notre Dame quarterback Joe Theismann to win the Heisman with 2,229 points compared to 1,410. He received 510 first-place votes, 285 second-place votes and 129 third-place votes.
No Latinos received Heisman votes again until Young won in 2021. Young then finished sixth in the 2022 Heisman race.
“I’ve seen a lot of Diego’s stuff throughout his years, when he was back at New Mexico State, because he beat Auburn over there and we played Auburn the next year (with Cal),” Mendoza said. “So I’ve watched his highs before, and I’ve seen his amazing journey through Vandy.”
Their journeys will take them to New York for the Heisman Trophy ceremony on Saturday evening.
José de Jesus Ortiz
Founder & Editor in Chief
Award-winning writer Jose de Jesus Ortiz, a former lead sports columnist at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, has covered Major League Baseball since 1997 in Los Angeles, St. Petersburg, New York and Houston. He was the first Latino to serve as president of the Baseball Writers' Association of America.
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