Asked to comment on his faith in himself after becoming the top pick in the National Football League draft Thursday, Fernando Mendoza responded by stressing his faith in God. Mendoza, a Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback who led his Indiana University team to the national college football championship earlier this year, was asked a question by Sports Writer Hondo Carpenter in an interview following being picked: “When you look back at your career, through high school to Cal to IU to the Raiders, it’s really been a journey of faith, both your personal faith, but also betting on yourself. You could’ve gotten more money or gone other places, but you chose to go to IU because of the coaching. “I'm just curious, how much is faith, in you, not just your spiritual faith, but your faith and trust in you and what you do in your team part of who you are as a man?” But, Mendoza didn’t separate his faith and trust in himself from his faith in God in his answer: “Well, first off, I’m a man of God and I think God has a plan. He’s blessed my family, blessed me and I just can’t thank him enough. And second of all, I think that fortune favors the bold and that, sometimes, when you’re bold and you bet on yourself, it’ll work out, most of the time. But, if it doesn’t work out, at least you’ll be able to at least sleep easy at night 20 years down the road knowing that you do everything possible to accomplish your goals.” “And, that’s what I look forward to doing: doing everything possible to accomplish my goals with this football club and helping any way I can,” Mendoza concluded. Mendoza has not been shy about praising and crediting God in post-game interviews, such as in his interview after beating Miami in this year's college national championship game.