Fernando Mendoza's Mom Talks Raiders QB's Tom Brady Relationship & 'Open Line of Communication'

Elsa Mendoza, the mother of Las Vegas Raiders rookie quarterback Fernando Mendoza, has been impressed with the team's minority owner, Tom Brady, and thankful for the relationship he's fostered with her son.

"He's such a kind person, and he's everything you would expect and more," she told People's Skyler Caruso regarding Brady. "You would think that, being everything he's accomplished and all the records he's broken, that he would be somebody untouchable. He is so kind. He has always made us feel like the door's open. Anytime we need him to call, he's been so welcoming to Fernando, helps Fernando with any questions, tells Fernando there's an open line of communication. He's also offered that to us. I mean, I could not want a better mentor for my son. He is a kind person, a good person, an excellent football player."

The Raiders have opted to start the season with Kirk Cousins as the first-team quarterback, allowing Mendoza time to learn the offense and adjust to life in the NFL. Brady can relate—he spent his entire first season in New England behind Drew Bledsoe on the depth chart before being called into action in his second season due to a Bledsoe injury (and the rest, of course, is history).

Granted, Brady was famously a sixth-round pick, while Mendoza was the top overall selection in April's draft. But the Raiders never made it a secret they intended to bring along Mendoza—or any young quarterback—slowly.

"Ideally, you don't want [a rookie QB] to start from Day 1," Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak told reporters in early April, before Mendoza was even selected. "You'd love him to be able to learn behind somebody. That's in a perfect world. It doesn't always work out that way. Sometimes they have to play from Day 1, and it's our job as coaches to get them ready to go. I think it does help the player if they can sit behind a mature adult and watch how they run the show."

Having a future first-ballot Hall of Famer serving as a mentor doesn't hurt either.