Indiana football players support Fernando Mendoza in 'once in a lifetime' trip
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NEW YORK — Indiana football players paid their own way to New York this weekend with Fernando Mendoza vying for college football’s most prestigious prize.
Mendoza will attend the Heisman Trophy ceremony Saturday night as a finalist for the award.
While his teammates won’t be able to attend the ceremony — they will gather at a steakhouse for a private watch party — they wanted to be near the proceedings to show their support of a player that’s lifted Indiana to a No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff and Big Ten title.
The players in New York include Pat Coogan, Carter Smith, Riley Nowakowski, Aiden Fisher, Charlie Becker, Isaiah Jones and James Bomba.
"I think we are so proud of Fernando,” Nowakowski said. “Obviously, he does so much on the field, but off the field too, he's such a great guy, such a great teammate and such a great friend. Seeing all the work he's put in throughout this year to come to fruition, it's so awesome, a guy him like him deserves it all."
They took over the adidas flagship store in New York on Saturday morning to attend a charity event that Mendoza helped organize for families impacted by multiple sclerosis. Mendoza has made it his personal mission to raise funds and awareness for the MS Society with his mother Elsa battling the disease.
"He's everything the Heisman is about, he encapsulates the trophy means and stand for, and the history of the trophy,” Coogan said.
It was Coogan who spearheaded the effort to get IU players to New York.
Some of his teammates thought he was joking earlier this week when he suggested the idea when a group of them went out to dinner, but a couple days later they were all purchasing plane tickets.
They let Mendoza know they would be in town Wednesday night.
"It's a once in a lifetime opportunity, right?” Coogan said. “Especially for us, me, Riley and Bomba, for a lot of us it's our last year of college football. It's a special opportunity, and obviously we have a special teammate on our hands to give us an opportunity to spend the day in New York and support him and represent Indiana on such a high stage."
They smiled at the idea of Mendoza still trying to share the credit for being a finalist with them. If he's called up to the stage on Saturday night, they hope he's finally willing to take a victory lap for all he's accomplished.
"We wouldn't be here without you, you are our golden goat," Nowakwoski said with a smile.
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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana football teammates at Fernando Mendoza Heisman Trophy ceremony
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