Michael Mendoza is a former

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

who played one season with the

Los Angeles Cobras The Los Angeles Cobras were a professional arena football team based in Los Angeles, California that played one season (1988) in the Arena Football League. History On March 16, 1988, it was announced that team would be nicknamed the Cobras, as ...

of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

. He first enrolled at

Los Angeles Harbor College Los Angeles Harbor College (LAHC) is a Public college, public community college in Wilmington, California. It is one of two community colleges serving the South Bay, Los Angeles, South Bay region of Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles. LAHC s ...

before transferring to

Northern Arizona University Northern Arizona University (NAU) is a public research university based in Flagstaff, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1899, it was the third and final university established in the Arizona Territory. It is one of the three universities gove ...

. He attended

Bishop Montgomery High School Bishop Montgomery High School (commonly referred to as "BMHS" or simply "Bishop" by students) is a Catholic high school serving twenty-five parishes in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. BMHS was founded in 1957, and staffed by the Sisters of St. ...

Torrance, California Torrance is a coastal city in the Los Angeles metropolitan area located in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city is part of what is known as the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay region of the metropolitan ...

. Mendoza was also a member of the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

and

Ottawa Rough Riders The Ottawa Rough Riders were a Canadian Football League team based in Ottawa, Ontario, founded on September 19, 1876. Formerly one of the oldest and longest-lived professional sports teams in North America, the Rough Riders won the Grey Cup cham ...

Early life

Mendoza played

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

at Bishop Montgomery High School and was named the offensive player of the year in the Angelus League in 1981.

College career

Mendoza played his first two seasons of

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the Los Angeles Harbor Seahawks of Los Angeles Harbor College. He led the Seahawks to two Southern California Athletic Conference titles and a pair of post-season bowl berths. He then transferred to

in 1983 to play for the

Northern Arizona Lumberjacks The NAU Lumberjacks are the varsity athletic teams representing Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona in intercollegiate athletics. The school's mascot was adopted in 1946. The Lumberjacks compete in NCAA Division I and are full membe ...

and was named the

Big Sky Conference The Big Sky Conference is a List of NCAA conferences, collegiate athletic conference, affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I with college football, football competing in the Football Cha ...

's Newcomer of the Year. Mendoza completed 453 of 769 passes for 4,882 yards and 29 touchdowns during his two seasons as a starter at Northern Arizona. While attending NAU he was a member of

Sigma Pi Sigma Pi () is a collegiate fraternity in North America. As of 2021, it had more than 5,000 undergraduate members and over 118,000 alumni. The fraternity is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded on February 26, 1897, at Vincennes Uni ...

fraternity.

Professional career

Mendoza spent time with the

during training camp in 1985 after passing up an offer to play for the

Denver Gold The Denver Gold was an American football franchise in the United States Football League (USFL) from 1983 to 1985. The Gold played their home games at Mile High Stadium in Denver, Colorado; and were co-tenants in the spring with the Triple-A ...

of the

USFL The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

. However, he was released before appearing in any preseason games. Mendoza was a member of the

for a week before being released by the team on May 20, 1986. Mendoza signed with the

on June 9, 1988. He was placed on the team's

taxi squad In gridiron football, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scout ...

for his first game as a member of the Cobras on June 10 against the

Detroit Drive The Massachusetts Marauders were a professional arena football team that was based in Worcester, Massachusetts. They were a member of the Arena Football League (AFL) from 1988 to 1994. The team was established in Detroit in 1988, as the Detroit ...

. He was promoted to the active roster on June 23, 1988. Mendoza passed for 269 yards and four touchdowns in relief of starting quarterback Matt Stevens in a 37–37 tie against the

Chicago Bruisers The Chicago Bruisers were a professional arena football team based in Rosemont, Illinois. They were founded in 1987 as a charter member of the Arena Football League (AFL). They played their home games at Rosemont Horizon. History Founding (19 ...

on July 14, 1988. Michael threw a 15-yard touchdown to Joe Kelly with 11 seconds left in regulation to tie the game. The Cobras'

Nick Mike-Mayer Nicholas Mike-Mayer (; born March 1, 1950) is an American former professional football player who was a kicker in the National Football League (NFL) from 1973 to 1982 for the Atlanta Falcons, Philadelphia Eagles, and the Buffalo Bills. He mad ...

then missed a 31-yard field goal with 46 seconds remaining in overtime. Mendoza appeared in the 1989 movie Kinjite: Forbidden Subjects as the movie contains a scene that is filmed during a live game between the Cobras and Bruisers. His name is audibly mentioned by the game's

public address announcer An announcer is a voice artist who relays information to the audience on a broadcast media programme or live event either on radio or television. Television and other media Some announcers work in television production, radio or filmmaking, ...

. Michael worked as a loan representative prior to signing with the Cobras.

References

External links

Stats Crew profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mendoza, Michael Living people Year of birth missing (living people) American football quarterbacks Canadian football quarterbacks Players of Canadian football from California Los Angeles Harbor Seahawks football players Northern Arizona Lumberjacks football players Oakland Raiders players Ottawa Rough Riders players Los Angeles Cobras players Players of American football from Torrance, California Los Angeles Harbor College alumni Bishop Montgomery High School alumni Sigma Pi members