INDIANAPOLIS — Perhaps no one can understand mercurial quarterback Diego Pavia better than the ultimate trend-setter for that description.
Former Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback — and emphatic first-round bust — Johnny Manziel has served as a mentor to Pavia this offseason, and the Vanderbilt quarterback said the two share a close relationship.
“He’s given me what to look out for, what it’s like, how to stay in the process,” Pavia said of Manziel at the NFL Scouting Combine on Friday morning. “And he’s giving me some good advice, for sure. He always reaches out, too, checks up on me to make sure I’m good.
“He’s just a friend to me, and so he’s given me some mentorship. He’s been around me; he’s been around my family. He’s just a great person for those that really don’t know.”
Manziel, who was known at Texas A&M as “Johnny Football,” famously flamed out in the NFL after two seasons with the Cleveland Browns. Multiple instances of immaturity and other issues arose during his NFL career, and he never returned to the league despite his outsized profile and potential.
Pavia finished second in Heisman balloting last season after a dazzling senior year at Vanderbilt. He passed for 3,539 yards and 29 touchdowns while rushing for 862 yards and 10 scores. Pavia guided the Commodores to their first 10-win season in school history, with victories over SEC titans like Alabama, LSU, Tennessee and Auburn during his two seasons with the program.
Like Manziel, immaturity seemed to follow Pavia. He had multiple social media posts deriding Heisman voters and Indiana following his second-place Heisman finish behind Hoosiers quarterback Fernando Mendoza. Pavia apologized later for the posts, but he has yet to shake the impression that he’s another Manziel.
When asked if any NFL teams asked about his social media posts, Pavia said, “Nope, they haven’t. I just think, not that they don’t care or whatever, but they kind of know the situation already.
“One thing about me is I don’t care what people think about me,” Pavia said. “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.”
Whether he’s passionate, hot-tempered or unfiltered, Pavia creates attention and controversy. He often rallied his Vanderbilt teammates around him, but he acknowledged that he needed them and his coaches to keep him in line.
“(Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea) just always been in my corner, right or wrong,” Pavis said. “Obviously, I wasn’t a perfect child, a perfect college athlete, and he was just there to tell me when I was wrong and when I was right, and he was there to humble me and tell me to get back in my process.
“When I was crossing the line, sometimes at practice, or whatever it was like, ‘Hey, you’ve got to calm down a little bit.’ So that’s what I took with a grain of salt because (my coaches and teammates) know, obviously, what’s best for me. They have the best in mind for me, so I like that.”