Raiders GM John Spytek reveals moment he knew Fernando Mendoza was the one

There were a few key dates for the Las Vegas Raiders this year that led them to Thursday night when they turned in their card to select Fernando Mendoza. But only one of those dates was the one that tied all this together.

The first was probably December 13. That's when Mendoza won the Heisman Trophy as the best player in college football. But at that point the Raiders didn't even know whether they'd be in range to draft a top QB in this draft, let alone THE top QB.

The next date was January 4. That was the day they secured the number one overall pick in the draft. Even before the outcome of their season finale against the Chiefs, they knew they had locked up the top pick. But that wasn't the day.

The next was January 19. That's when Fernando Mendoza and the Indiana Hoosiers completed their perfect season and won the College Football National Championship. But, according to Raiders GM John Spytek, that wasn't the day either. According to him, it was another day.

"It was certainly not done in Miami that night, it was great to be there and great to see him play like that," said Spytek following the first round Thursday night. "When was it really done? It started to feel better and better when we met him in person. I'm a big believer in the interactions. You only get so many opportunities in front of them. They're not as long as you want, but I think you can tell a lot about a person in those in those interactions, and he was just always authentically himself. He was endearing. You could see the driven, almost the maniacal, driven part of it that makes a great QB. So, I don't, I don't necessarily have a final-final when it was decided, but it wasn't today."

The next date was during the combine in late late February. That's when Mendoza dazzled Spytek with his intellect.

"Well, first of all, his recall was incredible," Spytek said of watching tape with Mendoza. "You could just put the play up there, and it would be from Week Two, and before you even push play, he knew what it was. He could talk you through it. They weren't all sunshine and rainbow plays either. There were some of them he screwed up, 'Oh yeah, I should have made this read.' And there was an honesty and a self-awareness to it, but also, I mean, it was like that, and he had it. And I've been a part of a few other quarterback interviews like that before, but not very many."