Florida SB 1812: Derelict Vessels

Bill Text

1812 
Indiana University Quarterback Fernando Mendoza 
2026-03-06T07:32:28Z 
Recognizing the outstanding performance of Indiana University quarterback Fernando Mendoza during the 2025 football season and congratulating him on his election as the 91st recipient of the Heisman Memorial Trophy, etc. 
Original Filed Version 
2026 
S 
SR 
Resolution 
__ 

 Florida Senate - 2026 (NP) SR 1812 

 By Senator Rodriguez 

 40-01810A-26 20261812__ 
 1 Senate Resolution 
 2 A resolution recognizing the outstanding performance 
 3 of Indiana University quarterback Fernando Mendoza 
 4 during the 2025 football season and congratulating him 
 5 on his election as the 91st recipient of the Heisman 
 6 Memorial Trophy. 
 7 
 8 WHEREAS, Fernando Mendoza was born on October 1, 2003, in 
 9 Boston, Massachusetts, and was raised in Miami, where he 
 10 attended Christopher Columbus High School and played as a 
 11 quarterback on the school’s football team, and 
 12 WHEREAS, initially committed to Yale University, Fernando 
 13 Mendoza ultimately enrolled at the University of California, 
 14 Berkeley, where he played from 2022 to 2024, and 
 15 WHEREAS, in 2025, Fernando Mendoza transferred to Indiana 
 16 University and became the starting quarterback for the Indiana 
 17 Hoosiers football team, leading the program to a 16-0 record, a 
 18 Big Ten championship, victories in the 2026 Rose Bowl and the 
 19 2026 Peach Bowl, and the program’s first No. 1 seed and national 
 20 championship victory in the 2026 College Football Playoff, and 
 21 WHEREAS, the Miami native finished the 2025 season with 
 22 3,535 passing yards and led the nation with 41 passing 
 23 touchdowns, while also rushing for 276 yards and 7 additional 
 24 touchdowns, and earned multiple major honors, including the 
 25 Maxwell Award and the Davey O’Brien Award, and was named the 
 26 Associated Press College Football Player of the Year, the Walter 
 27 Camp Player of the Year, and the Big Ten Offensive Player of the 
 28 Year and Quarterback of the Year, and 
 29 WHEREAS, on December 13, 2025, Fernando Mendoza was awarded 
 30 the 91st Heisman Memorial Trophy as the most outstanding player 
 31 in college football, achieving a historic victory by leading all 
 32 six Heisman regions in voting and becoming the first player in 
 33 Indiana University history to receive the award, and 
 34 WHEREAS, Fernando Mendoza is the first Cuban American and 
 35 the third Latino to win the Heisman Memorial Trophy, marking a 
 36 milestone for Cuban-American and Latino athletes in college 
 37 sports, and 
 38 WHEREAS, Fernando Mendoza’s achievements have brought 
 39 national recognition to Indiana University and his hometown of 
 40 Miami and serve as an inspiration to young athletes, 
 41 particularly in the Cuban-American and Latino communities, NOW, 
 42 THEREFORE, 
 43 
 44 Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida: 
 45 
 46 That the Florida Senate recognizes the outstanding 
 47 performance of Indiana University quarterback Fernando Mendoza 
 48 during the 2025 football season and congratulates him on his 
 49 election as the 91st recipient of the Heisman Memorial Trophy. 
 50 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution, with 
 51 the Seal of the Senate affixed, be presented to Fernando Mendoza 
 52 as a tangible token of the sentiments of the Florida Senate.