Fernando Mendoza says Tom Brady is teaching him how to lead an NFL team

Raiders quarterback Fernando Mendoza is learning about leadership from Tom Brady.

Brady, the Raiders’ minority owner, has talked to Mendoza and the Raiders’ other quarterbacks about what a franchise quarterback needs to be, and Mendoza told the Raiders’ Youtube channel that he’s trying to lead by example, as Brady told him to do.

“I usually like to keep the talks between Tom and me private. But I do think what he said as a quarterback is you need to be the most everything. You need to be the most competitive. You need to be the most leader — you have to have the most leadership. You need to be the toughest, mentally and physically. You’ve got to embody all these things and lead by example before getting the respect from your teammates, in order to lead effectively. That really resonated with me,” Mendoza said.

Brady became perhaps the greatest leader in NFL history, but he was drafted to be a backup and was thrust into a leadership role during his second season, when Drew Bledsoe got hurt. Mendoza, as the first overall pick in the draft, is in a very different situation. Brady and the Raiders want Mendoza to be ready to lead right away.