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By Rowan Fisher-Shotton
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Diego Pavia’s standout 2025 season gave Vanderbilt its best run in modern history and a surprise spot near the top of the Heisman ballot.
Yet, the Commodores’ star quarterback found himself at the center of a post-ceremony controversy after publicly attacking the voters.
“On Saturday night, Pavia reposted a social image and added a short, profane message directed at Heisman voters, reacting to his loss to Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza by writing, ‘[expletive] all the voters.’”
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Pavia later issued a public apology, saying his disappointment got the best of him and that he regretted being disrespectful to the voters and the process.
Reaction from the voting community was sharp and immediate, nevertheless.
Chase Goodbread, a Heisman voter and columnist for The Tuscaloosa News, wrote that Pavia’s post was "unsportsmanlike" and called the action "a punk move," arguing that, given Pavia’s long college tenure and profile, the outburst was inexcusable.
"Had this been a 19-year-old Johnny Manziel — a Pavia confidant, by the way — an '[expletive] all the voters' post on social media would've at least been less surprising, if no less classless. But after six years in college, you'd think Pavia would've signed up for at least one course in humility by now," Goodbread added.
Pavia finished second in the 2025 Heisman voting, collecting 1,435 points and 189 first-place votes behind Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza, who totaled 2,362 points and 643 first-place votes.
The voting mirrored a season in which Pavia accounted for the bulk of Vanderbilt’s offense, producing 3,192 passing yards, 826 rushing yards, and 36 total touchdowns, as the Commodores closed the college football regular season 10–2.
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Pavia is widely viewed as a 2026 draft-eligible quarterback and appears in mid-to-late-round projections on several draft boards; some services label him a developmental prospect, citing size and arm-slot concerns despite his rushing value.
Pavia’s apology has helped reduce immediate public pressure, allowing Vanderbilt to refocus on its upcoming ReliaQuest Bowl on Dec. 31 against Iowa.
Longer term, however, NFL evaluators will need to weigh the incident alongside game tape and in-person interviews, with the episode likely to register as a minor negative data point in pre-draft social-screening processes.
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