{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"SG² Steve Gladen on Small Groups","title":"5 Ways We Can All Lead Better","html":"<iframe width=\"100%\" height=\"180\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" seamless src=\"https://share.transistor.fm/e/8d8141d6\"></iframe>","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":1758,"description":"Subscribe and Connect with the Small Group Network\nThank you for tuning in! Don't forget to subscribe to our podcast on your favorite platform. For more resources and to join the small group community, visit smallgroupnetwork.com. \nTHE MENDOZA STORY\n130 schools said no.\nHe led the losingest program in college football history to a national championship anyway.\nFernando Mendoza was a 2-star recruit from Miami.\nHe tried to walk on at his hometown school. They passed.\nSo did FIU.\nSo did FAU.\nSo did everyone else.\nAt 17, he was sitting in his bedroom, crying over a silent recruiting inbox—after driving to 18 camps with his dad and sending highlights to more than 100 programs.\nNot one FBS offer.\nHis only option? Yale. No scholarship. No NFL path.\nEveryone told him to be “realistic.”\n“Know your place.”\n“Be grateful.”\nHe didn’t listen.\nBecause Mendoza understood something most people miss:\nThe worst outcome isn’t failing.\nIt’s never getting the chance to try.\nTwo weeks before signing day in 2022, his phone rang.\nCal needed a body. One offer. Out of 134 schools.\nHe took it.\nHe arrived as the third-string quarterback.\nSpent a year on the scout team.\nLost his first four starts.\nGot sacked 41 times behind a broken offensive line.\nStill got up. Every time.\nThen Cal brought in a transfer instead of building around him.\nSo Mendoza left the only school that had ever said yes.\nHe transferred to Indiana—the losingest program in college football history.\nPeople laughed.\n“Career suicide.”\n“Graveyard program.”\n“Nobody wins there.”\nOne coach told him something different:\n“I’m going to make you the best Fernando Mendoza possible.”\nThat was enough.\nMendoza wasn’t just playing for football.\nHis mother has battled multiple sclerosis for 18 years.\nBefore every snap, he thought of her.\n“My mother is my why.”\nIndiana went 16–0.\nBeat six Top-10 teams.\nWon their first Big Ten title since 1945.\nMendoza threw 41 touchdowns.\nWon the Heisman—first in school history.\nFirst Cuban-American to ever...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/uAtv0zHBzgbCLLeewi1iCzhs7OXKuDoPGaihQiM636g/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9zaG93/LzI3MTA3LzE2NTE4/NTkyNDEtYXJ0d29y/ay5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}