Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia made at least one of his voters regret casting a ballot for him in the Heisman Trophy race.
ESPN’s Rece Davis revealed this week that he had voted for Pavia to win the Heisman. However, after seeing the Vanderbilt quarterback’s behavior after finishing second to Fernando Mendoza of Indiana, he was actually relieved that his choice did not win.
“The one thing that his behavior, even with the apology included and accepted, did for me was that it made me regret my Heisman vote,” Davis said on the “College GameDay” podcast, via Daniel Hager of On3. “I voted for Diego Pavia because I know what the history of Vanderbilt is. I thought he was the most dynamic player. I’m predisposed in Heisman voting to vote for guys who create ‘wow’ moments.
“I’ve voted for the Heisman for 20-something years. I’ve only regretted my vote two times: one time it was because of on the field and I was unfair in my judgment toward a person. In my effort to be fair, I ended up being unfair to the person I should have voted for. This one was different. I regretted the vote because after Pavia’s behavior in the aftermath, I was like ‘man, I’m glad he didn’t win.’ I’m glad he didn’t win. That’s not the way you should feel about a player as great as Pavia is on the field.”
Pavia drew criticism for blasting Heisman voters after finishing second to Mendoza last Saturday. He also insulted Indiana. The Vanderbilt quarterback apologized for his behavior, but the damage was done.
Davis may not be the only Pavia voter who saw the quarterback’s behavior and felt relieved his choice hadn’t won. As Davis said, that is not how anyone should feel about a Heisman candidate, but Pavia has no one to blame but himself.
Pavia threw for 3,192 yards with 27 touchdowns and eight interceptions on the season and led the Commodores to a 10-2 campaign.
