Fernando Mendoza is now an official part of LA Chargers fans' lives. The Las Vegas Raiders made the selection that was months in the making, taking the now-former Indiana quarterback with the No. 1 overall pick.
As lovable as Mendoza was at Indiana, he is now an enemy for Chargers fans. No team in the AFC West is as despised as the Raiders, and it won't take much for Chargers fans to start disliking Mendoza rather quickly.
In fact, if we want to be really critical, we can point out how Mendoza is already lying about the team that drafted him and Chargers fans can spot it from a mile away. During his first interview as a member of the Raiders, Mendoza said something that will make Chargers fans belly laugh: the Raiders are great.
"What a great organization. Great legacy. There's so many great teammates I'm looking forward to talking to. Coaches, owners. I'm estatic for the opportunity," Mendoza said on the broadcast.
C'mon Fernando! We know you have to be nice to your new team but we all know the Raiders aren't great! There's a reason why they have the No. 1 overall pick and why they haven't won a playoff game in two decades!
Fernando Mendoza will soon learn what Chargers fans already know about the Raiders
Look, this is obviously a tongue-in-cheek dissection of Mendoza's first comments as a Raider. Of course he is going to say his new team is great. He's not going to go out there and point out the laundry list of bad history the Raiders have over the last two decades.
He's not Eli Manning. He's not going to force himself to get traded out of the No. 1 overall pick. As hilarious as that would have been, Mendoza is too good of a guy to pull a move like that.
That being said, Mendoza will soon learn something that Chargers fans can tell him firsthand: the Raiders aren't great. Yes, they have a great history, but nobody under the age of 45 was sentient for any of their Super Bowl wins. Nobody under the age of 25 was sentient for their last playoff win.
Great teammates? The Raiders did add some talent in free agency, but there's a reason this roster won only three games last year. Great coaches? Klint Kubiak was great as the Seahawks offensive coordinator, but we have no idea how he will be as a head coach. He could be another Josh McDaniels for all we know. Great owners? Tom Brady is the greatest quarterback of all time, but Mark Davis hasn't really carried on his father's tradition of just winning.
If the Raiders are ever going to be great again it will be because Mendoza works out. But based on recent history, Chargers fans can rest easy knowing that it's a massive mountain for the first-overall pick to climb.
Mendoza obviously believes everything he said. He thinks the Raiders are great, because, well, of course he does. But until we actually see it with our own eyes, Chargers fans know that's all just lip service.
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