Diego Pavia stays on brand with spiteful message to Heisman Trophy voters

The 2025 Heisman Trophy race was another to remember. Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza took home the award during Saturday evening's ceremony one week after he took down No. 1 Ohio State in the Big Ten championship game in crimson-painted Indianapolis. Runner-up to the Hoosier QB was Vanderbilt's own Diego Pavia.

In a wonderful and historic season for head coach Clark Lea and the Commodores, there is a motif of coming up just short. Vanderbilt finished a remarkable 10-2 but were only a few spots and a better argument away from sneaking into the College Football Playoff field. Then, there's Pavia, who put together 300 and 400-yard passing games down the strecth to lead a double-digit-win regular season and catapult himself all the way to second in college football's award honoring the most outstanding player.

Following Mendoza's victory and a strong acceptance speech, later on, voting totals were announced. Mendoza earned 2,362 points to run away with the award while Pavia flountered into second with 1,435 tallies. Not a terribly close margin, and Pavia certainly disagreed with the result. He shared a curse at the voting body of the Heisman Trophy on a social media post after the event:

Diego Pavia’s message on instagram:

F*** all the voters.. but family for life. pic.twitter.com/arGq0naWC3
— Dylan Tovitz (@dtovitz) December 14, 2025

Diego Pavia led Vanderbilt resurgence

More than accolades or stats, Diego Pavia and the 2024-25 Vanderbilt teams introduced a rare swagger and competence for the Commodore program. Pavia is an immediate Nashville legend — mysteriously old, accompanied by world-famous comedians, popular at Las Vegas casinos and somehow the best quarterback in the SEC from one Saturday to the next.

As for those stats, though, Pavia really did it all. The Vanderbilt quarterback finished the 2025 regular season leading the SEC in... completion percentage (71%), touchdowns (27), yards per pass attempt (9.4) and quarterback rating (171.5) as he totaled more than 3,000 passing yards and 4,000+ total yards combining rushing with passing. Simply one of the shining talents of his era — and one of the most fun.

If you were handing out an award like the NBA or NFL MVP, where a player's value to their specific team is the top grading criterion, then Diego Pavia could easily be the recipient for the 2025 season. Without him, where would that Vanderbilt team have been? Perhaps good but likely not 10-2. But the 'Dores did just flip a five-star QB commit for next season, so perhaps Pavia will even leave his own positive ripple effects.