Aleteia—Fernando Mendoza, the star quarterback for Indiana University’s football team, was awarded the Heisman Trophy on Saturday, which is given annually to the best player in college football. Mendoza had an outstanding year, leading his team to an undefeated regular season and, for the first time in program history, the Big Ten Conference championship. 
During his acceptance speech, Mendoza, the grandson of Cuban immigrants, thanked God for “the opportunity to chase a dream that once felt a world away” and, in a press conference after the ceremony, he mentioned repeatedly how important his Catholic faith is to him: “Building that faith throughout college and now to be able to share my faith with these amazing teammates and just the community of faith, realizing having God on my side, always praising Jesus Christ, it’s incredible.”
Fr. Patrick Hyde, O.P., the pastor of the St. Paul Catholic Center at Indiana University, shared a video of people celebrating right after Mendoza was announced as the winner. “When the guy you see every Sunday at Mass at your Newman Center wins the Heisman Trophy,” he captioned the post.
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