The young-ins on the Las Vegas Raiders really put on a show at their team’s rookie talent show… and former Indiana standout Fernando Mendoza picked out a classic country song when it was his turn to take the stage.
We’re only a few weeks away from the start of the NFL season. I, for one, cannot wait for gridiron action to return. I’m ready for my Sundays to be filled with “seven hours of red zone football,” and for my favorite team – the Minnesota Vikings – to break my heart yet again.
Across the league, there’s a lot of exciting storylines that will play out as each team fights towards Super Bowl LXI. Can the Seattle Seahawks repeat as Super Bowl champs? Could Josh Allen finally get over the hump and lead the Buffalo Bills to a Lombardi? Or my personal favorite… how long will it take for Fernando Mendoza to become the Raiders starter over Kirk Cousins?
It appears that the Las Vegas franchise isn’t trying to rush into the Fernando-era, considering they named the veteran Kirk Cousins as their starter. However, it’s obvious that they expect the 2026 National Champion to take over the reigns at some point, and that could come at really any point in the 2026-27 NFL season.
For now though, he’s just fulfilling the role of rookie quarterback after he was drafted to the Raiders with the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft earlier this year. And one of the ways he’s doing that? Participating in the Las Vegas team’s rookie talent show, which is a staple of every NFL squad’s preseason period.
Just consider it as an initiation into the professional football league. All of the first-year guys are generally required or expected to perform, and for the Raiders, it looked like they took care of their “talent show” by having the rookies sing a little karaoke while the team was at The Rustic in Houston, Texas.
Two of the four songs that you’ll see in this clip below were non-country songs. “Chicago” by Michael Jackson and “Somebody That I Used To Know” by Gotye were among the songs chosen for what sounds like a cappella karaoke night (that pumps up the embarrassment level even more).
The other two performances that we got a peek of? That would be “Your Man” by Josh Turner (great selection) and “Take Me Home, Country Roads” by John Denver. The latter was sang by none other than Fernando Mendoza, and I have to say… he get’s a couple of points taken off for having to look at the lyrics on his phone.
Check it out:
Great choice by Mendoza though… everyone knows that the key to having a go-to karaoke song is rolling with a tune that everyone can sing along to.
You can even tell that he was really looking for his teammates and coaches to help him out when he got to the chorus. But I do have to point out that it appears he had to look at his phone to confirm that the state he was about to sing out was “WEST VIRGINIA.”
Really? Have some country music/John Denver pocket presence Fernando…
