Heisman Great Jim Plunkett Among Inaugural Class Of Hispanic Football Hall Of Fame

Heisman winner Jim Plunkett is among seven members that will make up the inaugural class of the Hispanic Football Hall of Fame while 2025 Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza will also be honored .

Plunkett, the 1970 Heisman winner from Stanford, will be joined by Oakland Raider teammate Ted Hendricks and his Raiders coach, Tom Flores, in the class.

Hendricks also has a Heisman connection. The defensive end out of Miami finished fifth in the 1968 voting, garnering seven first-place votes and 174 total points.

Flores, for his part, coached a trio of Heisman winners with the Raiders. In addition to Plunkett, Flores also coached Heisman winners Marcus Allen and Bo Jackson while in Oakland.

The inaugural Hispanic Football Hall of Fame class, announced Tuesday, also includes Anthony Muñoz, Ron Rivera, Steve Van Buren and Tom Fears. The debut class will be honored during the Celebración de Fútbol on May 5 at the Las Vegas Raiders Headquarters in Henderson, Nev..

Mendoza will join NFL star Nik Bonitto and high school player Ryan Estrada as honorees at the inaugural event.

Plunkett completed 530-of-962 passing for 7,544 yards and 52 TDs during his career at Stanford — all school records — and led the Cardinal to a 27-17 win in the 1971 Rose Bowl following his 1970 Heisman win.

The first Hispanic to win the Heisman, he became the first Hispanic picked first in the NFL Draft when New England took him in 1971. Mendoza could become the third this April when the Raiders kick off the 2026 NFL Draft with the first pick. Bryce Young, whose maternal grandfather was born in Mexico, was the second.

Plunkett was the 1971 NFL Rookie of the Year but did not find much NFL success until he joined the Raiders, leading Oakland to Super Bowl titles following the 1980 and 1983 seasons. He was the 1980 NFL Comeback Player of the Year and the Super Bowl MVP in his first Super Bowl win.