Ex-college football star Diego Pavia hit with 'brutal reality' during NFL Draft, sportscaster says

Sportscaster Dan Patrick said Monday that Heisman Trophy finalist Diego Pavia was handed a "brutal reality" over the weekend when he went undrafted and received only an invite to Baltimore Ravens camp.

Pavia was the first Heisman Trophy finalist in more than 10 years to go unselected in the NFLNFL Draft.

Patrick claimed on his show that it was a "really clear" message from the NFL.

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Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia throws the ball during football pro day at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., on March 20, 2026. (ANDREW NELLES / THE TENNESSEAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

"Diego Pavia was a Heisman Trophy finalist who did not get drafted. Now, there’s a few reasons why. He was very, very good in the SEC – that should stand out and that should make you draft eligible. You should get drafted just based off what you did. You did it for Vandy in the SEC. You can have personality at other positions. You can be absorbed, you can be embraced, but not at backup quarterback because quarterback is evaluated differently. You can be an elite talent and get away with that.

"The message from the NFL was really clear – if you're not a can’t-miss prospect, professionalism is not just valued, it’s required, and that hurt Diego Pavia. Also, that he’s not a tall guy. Most of your backup quarterbacks, if you check, are not short quarterbacks. Diego Pavia might be 5-10, but you start to look at what you did at pre-draft meetings with teams. … You have (Tim) Tebow, Cam Newton, (Colin) Kaepernick, other examples of your backup quarterback being too much of a headline, or potential for a headline."

Patrick pointed to Pavia’s friendship with Johnny Manziel and making snide comments about Fernando Mendoza on Heisman night as other reasons why Pavia didn’t get drafted.

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Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia runs the ball during the game against Louisiana State University at FirstBank Stadium in Nashville, Tenn., on Oct. 18, 2025. (Nicole Hester/ The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

"Football moves on quickly. Just as Johnny Manziel, it moves quickly. … But Diego Pavia has a personality, but he doesn’t have a personality that I want as my backup quarterback. I don’t think he’s good enough to be a starter in the NFL He’s not Doug Flutie. I mean, Doug Flutie was 5-9, Heisman Trophy winner, but he was the ideal personality to be a backup quarterback and ready to come in when need be. In fact, Flutie was ahead of his time.

"But Diego Pavia, the personality, that’s who you are. You’re selling that personality. But I’m not buying that. Teams are not buying that. Teams didn’t buy Shedeur Sanders."

Patrick said that NFL coaches have a tough enough time trying to win games as it is without personalities becoming headlines.

Patrick added that NFL teams usually want a quarterback who is seen and not heard from, or a player who isn’t drawing too much attention to himself.

"You gotta have a backup quarterback, who you probably don’t see very much and that’s a good thing. If you’re one of the McDown brothers and you’re just there for 15 years, Chase Daniel, nice college career, you just want to make sure that guy is there just in case," he said.

Patrick said Pavia’s reality check was that teams don’t want him to be the star, they only want him to help the starting quarterback.

"And that was the brutal reality that Diego Pavia was handed over the weekend. He did not get drafted."

Pavia was named the SEC Offensive Player of the Year and had 3,539 passing yards and 29 touchdowns as he helped put the Commodores back on the map.

Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia talks to Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza as quarterbacks run a drill at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis on Feb. 28, 2026. (Michael Conroy/AP)

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Vanderbilt was 10-3 last season and nearly made the College Football Playoff.