The Vanderbilt quarterback finished second in Heisman Trophy voting.
Of course, that’s quite an accomplishment.
However, Pavia apparently felt differently. After the results were announced in New York on Saturday, the 23-year-old senior posted a photo of himself with the offensive line on his Instagram Stories and captioned it with a profanity.
“F-ALL to all my voters,” Pavia wrote, followed by a thumbs-down emoji: “But…family is for life.”
On Sunday night, Pavia posted .
“It was a great honor to participate in last night’s Heisman ceremony as a finalist,” he wrote. “As a competitor, like in everything I do, I wanted to win. It hurt to come so close to my dream and fall just short. I just couldn’t handle those emotions very well and couldn’t express myself the way I wanted to.”
“I have great love and respect for the Heisman voters and the selection process. I apologize for the inconvenience. It was a mistake. I am sorry.”
Mendoza received 643 first-place votes and 2,362 total points, while Pavia received 189 first-place votes and 1,435 total points. Notre Dame’s running back finished third in the voting (46 first-place players, 719 points) and Ohio State’s quarterback finished fourth in the voting (eight first-place players, 432 points).
Indiana (13-0) is the top team and will play the winner of Oklahoma vs. Alabama in the Rose Bowl. Mendoza played a huge role in the Hoosiers’ success. He completed 71.5 percent of his passes for 2,980 yards, with 33 touchdown passes and six interceptions, the best in the nation. In addition, Mendoza had 240 yards rushing and six touchdowns.
“Fernando Mendoza is an elite competitor and a deserving recipient of this award,” Pavia wrote. “I have nothing but respect for his accomplishments and the success of Jeremiah and Julian this season.”
Pavia also put up big numbers for Vanderbilt (10-2), which is No. 14 in the final CFP rankings and will play Iowa in the LilliaQuest Bowl on Dec. 31. He completed 71.2 percent of his passes for 3,192 yards, 27 touchdowns, and eight interceptions, and rushed for 826 yards and nine touchdowns.
A former reject from New Mexico State Military Academy, Pavia played two years at New Mexico State University before transferring to Vanderbilt in 2024. Leading up to the Heisman ceremony, Pavia became the greatest college football player of all time. But he recently told Sports Illustrated that his confidence shouldn’t be mistaken for arrogance.
“As an underdog paying to go to JUCO, you have to be your own cheerleader.” “And I couldn’t get it out of my head, ‘Oh, we’ve arrived, we don’t need that anymore.’
Pavia reflected on her past in an apology post.
“I have been under suspicion all my life. Every step of my journey I have had to break down doors and fight for myself because I know that nothing will be handed to me,” he wrote. “My family will always be in my corner and my teammates, coaches and staff support my six. I love my family. I appreciate them and I don’t want anything to get in the way of that. I look forward to competing once again at the LiliaQuest Bowl in front of my family and with my team.”
