Diego Pavia’s post-Heisman antics prove he has more growing up to do

Diego Pavia was tremendous for the Vanderbilt Commodores this year.

The former New Mexico State quarterback was hoping to build on his successful 2024 campaign with the Commodores as a junior, and did just that in his final collegiate season. 

Pavia finished the regular season with 3,192 passing yards, 27 touchdowns and only eight interceptions on a Vanderbilt that won 10 games for the first time in school history and narrowly missed the expanded 12-team playoff. 

Unsurprisingly, Pavia was a finalist for the prestigious Heisman trophy award, but ultimately Indiana Hoosiers superstar quarterback Fernando Mendoza walked away as the winner. 

The Albuquerque, New Mexico native could have posted a congratulatory social media post toward Mendoza after his victory or kept a low profile and refrained from allowing his animosity to negatively affect his image. 

Unfortunately, Pavia declined both of those options and elected to post an Instagram story with the caption ‘F-ALL THE VOTERS, BUT…..FAMILY FOR LIFE’. To make matters worse, Pavia was seen partying next to a sign that read ‘F*** Indiana’ while making a middle finger gesture.

To the 23-year-old’s credit, though, he did issue a lengthy apology on X/Twitter after receiving heavy backlash for his actions. That said, Pavia’s initial reaction to the voters’ decision to crown Mendoza revealed his true colors. 

While it’s understandable that Pavia’s competitive nature made it challenging for him to accept defeat, there’s no question that he handled the situation incorrectly. 

As noted earlier, Pavia could have left social media alone for the night, put his head down and allowed the crushing loss to fuel him moving forward. It’s reasonable to assume that NFL scouts would have been far more impressed by the 6-foot quarterback’s mature approach to the unfortunate Heisman verdict than the kid-like tactic he ultimately used. 

Pavia’s arm talent, mobility, commitment to putting his body on the line for betterment of the team, and winning background will likely entice a franchise to take a chance on him despite his glaring character issues. 

Still, it doesn’t take a genius to discover that the future pro still has ample growing up to do if he wants to reach his full potential.