Does Diego Pavia Believe There's Misconceptions About Him? "They're Supposed To Put Out Clickbait." – Sports Illustrated

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The wariness almost radiated off of Diego Pavia as he stood elevated in front of a group of reporters at the NFL Draft Combine on Friday morning and addressed all the elephants in the room surrounding him. 
Pavia didn’t used to be this way, but two years of experience as college football’s most polarizing player will do that to a person. The former Vanderbilt quarterback has seen his comments and actions blow up in his face. He’s been confronted by members of Vanderbilt’s program about certain comments go viral. He’s seen his lack of caution with the media blow up in his face at times. He’s seen some of his comments lacking context spun the other way. 
If Pavia ever looked up his name and clicked on the Google news section, he’d see just about every possible narrative that could be generated based off of his polarizing nature. Here was his chance, though, to clear some of them up. It was a softball that he just could take and run with.
“Do you feel like there’s misconceptions about you? And is that something you’re trying to combat?” A reporter said. 
“One thing about me is that I don’t care about what people think about me,” Pavia said. “I think that just comes from God having a plan for me regardless. The way the media is, they’re supposed to put out clickbait and things like that. That’s how people get views and that’s how people make money. People will twist a story to try to put out bad me to get clicks, good me to get clicks. That’s just today’s world that we live in. I’m just adjusting to the new world.” 
Pavia’s adjustment on Friday–and for most of the 2025 season–appeared to include a more guarded version of himself than had been at the podium previously. No longer was he coming from a place of trying to contextualize his rise or clear up anything about himself. No longer was he trying to endear himself to anyone. 
Even the softballs Pavia was pitched were often answered with just a sentence or two. There’s no college football player who’s been covered more or has seen the storylines surrounding his name be rehashed more. Time to chalk all of that–the special performances, the endearing rise, the post-Heisman debacle and the life in Nashville as a whole–behind. 
All the storylines regarding Pavia’s college career were brought up on Friday morning. Pavia was asked about college eligibility changes. Former Vanderbilt quarterbacks coach Garrett Altmann, his relationship with Eli Stowers, his post-Heisman debacle–which he says teams haven’t asked him about–and his role in the Vanderbilt turnaround. The answers to those questions were under a minute total, though. 
Blinders on, look ahead. 
“I think we’re moved on to the NFL,” Pavia said in regard to a question regarding his impact on college eligibility after giving a brief answer. 
Stowers said Thursday that he believes there’s a number of misconceptions regarding Pavia and his personality out there and went to bat for his former quarterback. He appears to believe that Pavia doesn’t get enough credit for being a standout teammate and gets too much flack for perceived character concerns. 
Pavia appeared to appreciate the sentiment that Stowers demonstrated in his Thursday availability, but he seemed to believe that the narratives won’t hold him back. Pavia wore a Combine jacket with No. 14 labeled in orange lettering on Friday, said that he will throw at the Combine while holding everything else for his Pro Day and appears to be all in on the whiteboard stage of interviews. 
The former Vanderbilt quarterback shut down just about every notion that teams have asked him to defend his character in the meeting room. He’ll cross that bridge if he gets there, he says, although he doesn’t appear to believe that will be the case. 
“With the meetings,” Pavia said, “As far as those go, they kind of know the kind of person I am. When the put me on the board [I’m just focused] on being myself and letting them know that I know football.” 
When Pavia was asked what’s true about him and what’s not, he cut it short and said that he’s humble, confident and that everyone would understand why he’s confident if they saw the depth of his process. He also called himself the “ultimate teammate” and says he’d do anything for his team. 
The narratives will always fly if Pavia is involved. That will continue once he gets on with an NFL team. His generally reserved press conference on Friday indicated that he believes that shouldn’t define him. Say what you will about him, he thinks he should be selected in the NFL Draft. Plain and simple.
“They're gonna get a competitor if they get me,” Pavia said. “I'm a man on a mission. I've dreamed about this since I was a kid, so (I'm) super excited for this opportunity and super grateful for it, too.”
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Joey Dwyer is the lead writer on Vanderbilt Commodores On SI. He found his first love in college sports at nearby Lipscomb University and decided to make a career of telling its best stories. He got his start doing a Notre Dame basketball podcast from his basement as a 14-year-old during COVID and has since aimed to make that 14-year-old proud. Dwyer has covered Vanderbilt sports for three years and previously worked for 247 Sports and Rivals. He contributes to Seth Davis' Hoops HQ, Basket Under Review and Mainstreet Nashville.
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