After the 2026 NFL draft concluded on Saturday, April 25, Diego Pavia is still waiting to find out where he’ll be playing professional football.
The controversial quarterback went undrafted at this year’s NFL Draft after the Heisman Trophy finalist threw a lavish watch party in Tennessee.
According to a photo posted by reporter Julian Mininsohn, Pavia’s party featured balloons and photos of the Vanderbilt quarterback, along with hats of all 32 NFL teams.
Instead of a celebration, the controversial player became the first Heisman Trophy finalist since Jordan Lynch in 2014 to go undrafted, according to The Athletic.
Pavia, 24, has been known to ignite firestorms across the sport with his antics both on and off the field. After the Heisman ceremony in December 2025, in which he finished behind Indiana quarterback and national champion Fernando Mendoza (who was selected first overall at the draft), Pavia posted “F-All the voters” on his social media.
He later apologized for the post.
Pavia went on to discuss his controversy during the 2026 NFL Draft Combine, claiming that NFL teams had not been asking him about his questionable social media posts.
“Nope, they haven’t,” Pavia told reporters. “I just think, not that they don’t care or whatever, but they kind of know the situation already.”
He continued, “One thing about me is I don’t care what people think about me. God has a plan for me regardless. But 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. I understand that. And so people will twist a story and try to put out bad media to get clicks, good media to get clicks. That’s just today’s world that we live in. So I’m just adjusting to the new world.”
Pavia led Vanderbilt to a 10-2 season in his final year with the team, with 3,192 passing yards, 27 touchdowns and only eight interceptions. He added 826 yards and nine touchdowns on the ground.
With the Commodores narrowly missing out on an appearance in the College Football Playoffs, Pavia took to social media to plead his case for an expanded playoff bracket to allow more teams to compete for a national title.
He even asked President Donald Trump for help.
“@realDonaldTrump MAKE THE EXECUTIVE ORDER PLEASE‼️👀,” Pavia wrote via X in December, quoting a post from college football reporter Brooks Austin, who suggested a 16-team playoff.
Trump never responded to the post, but the president has loudly called on Congress to take action that would rein in college sports during the newfound NIL era.
