Heisman voter shreds Diego Pavia for antics: ‘It was a punk move’
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In a few weeks time, Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia went from one of college football’s beloved figures to one of its easiest players to root against. Pavia’s heel turn was completed the night of the Heisman Trophy ceremony when, in defeat, the super-senior posted a message on social media disparaging voters who cast ballots for Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza and then partied with a sign that read “f*** Indiana.”
Pavia has since apologized for what he called “disrespectful” antics.
One Heisman voter in particular was not satisfied with the apology.
Chase Goodbread, a columnist for The Tuscaloosa News, penned a piece this week that took Pavia to task for his behavior in the hours after the Heisman ceremony.
Goodbread referred to Pavia’s behavior as “jackassery” and wrote that, “after 6 years in college, you’d think Pavia would’ve signed up for at least one course in humility by now.”
From Goodbread’s column, which can be read in its entirety here:
He’s a big boy now. Old enough to have more than one college degree. Old enough to beat the NCAA in court to gain extra eligibility, and old enough to make the pile of NIL money that came with that. Old enough to know better. And old enough to handle some criticism.
It was a punk move, Diego. This voter wasn’t sitting right next to Mendoza Saturday night, but my congrats for him are at least genuine.
Mendoza finished with 643 first-place votes for the Heisman, more than 3 times as many as Pavia garnered. It was a landslide victory for Mendoza.
Pavia will have one final chance to cleanse the narrative surrounding him when Vandy meets Iowa in the ReliaQuest Bowl on Dec. 31.
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
