Diego Pavia is now a commodity. Check that — an empire if you count the fact his lawyer lives in Puerto Rico.
“It is an incredible place to live with a huge community of expats, entrepreneurial spirit and nice tax advantages,” Ryan Downton told CBS Sports.
These type of things matter now. As of December, we thought Pavia’s story had ended. Vanderbilt’s quarterback completed a colorful, inspiring career by leading the Commodores to a seven-win season, its first above .500 since James Franklin left 12 years ago.
After five years and three programs, Pavia was off to the NFL. Or, so he hoped.
“Shoot, I’d like to think I was probably the best quarterback in the country if I was coming out this year,” he said.
But there has been more at work in this story than hopes and dreams. In November, Pavia sued the NCAA for an extra year of eligibility. The shock waves from the result of that lawsuit are still being felt. Pavia just might be on the cutting edge of a new eligibility model as CBS Sports detailed last month.
Downton had originally approached the quarterback the day before the epic upset of Alabama on Oct. 5. The veteran attorney had a right and the ability to seek out this unique client. Downton was a Vandy cheerleader while pursuing his undergrad degree in the business school. It occurred to him that Pavia deserved an extra year of eligibility despite a winding career that began at New Mexico Military Institute and migrated to New Mexico State before a transfer to Vanderbilt.
The suit states that Pavia’s eligibility clock starting in junior college (at NMMI) violated anti-trust laws. It argues, in essence, that the restriction denied the quarterback of an opportunity at more NIL benefits. The judge who ordered the injunction agreed and estimated Pavia could earn $1 million in NIL benefits because of his extra year. A month after the suit was filed, a Tennessee judge issued a preliminary restraining order allowing Pavia that extra year of eligibility, his sixth.
The quarterback known for his emotion reacted accordingly.
“This might be life changing,” Pavia told CBS Sports. “I love this city, the people in it.”
That’s where the commodity part of the 5-foot-8, 210-pounder from Albuquerque comes in. Pavia has a team beyond the one in the locker room. You’re probably not going to believe this, but the sixth-year quarterback of a Power Four program in the SEC does not have much of an NIL presence at all.
“Small partnership with Slim Chickens,” Megan Curry mentioned.
Curry is the founder of AthleteZ PR, a public relations firm that advertises itself as “a powerhouse for GenZ”. Last week, Pavia became one of the agency’s newest clients. Neither side can wait. There is going to be a giant offseason rollout of Pavia as a brand.
Curry has already lectured her client about the rare air he is about to enter. Only 1% of football players really get paid. The intent is to elbow his way to the front of the pack much the way Cinderellas do during March Madness. If Pavia plays it right this season, he could set himself up for years whether the NFL comes calling or not.
Call it Diego Over America. His empire awaits his arrival.
“Diego is an enigma,” Curry said. “Diego is this kid who came and took the Music City by storm. His energy is infectious. His attitude is above and beyond positive. He gets bad press. There’s a lot of people out there … parallel pathing him to Johnny Manziel. This kid can’t be further from it.”
Aside from apparently peeing on New Mexico’s logo in the Lobos’ indoor facility in 2023, Pavia hasn’t been a controversial figure.
“It’s really, really humbling to hear this kid speak versus celebrating with money hand signs in an end zone,” Curry said.
Largely ignored out of Volcano Vista High School, he played two years at NMMI and won a JUCO national championship. New Mexico State won 10 games for the first time in 60 years with Pavia. The quarterback then followed his NMSU coach Jerry Kill to Vanderbilt.
“He’s got a confidence. It’s not cocky or arrogant, but I can see how it might come across like that for someone who doesn’t know him,” said Joe Forchtner, Pavia’s junior college coach. “But he’s so sure of his abilities, and it’s so contagious to his teammates.”
Armed with an extra year, Pavia’s impact in the Nashville community is growing after he blew up on the field (3,100 yards from scrimmage, 28 total touchdowns in 2024). Curry is looking forward to a coming segment on the quarterback in a Netflix documentary on the SEC.
“When I moved here three years ago, you couldn’t find a Vanderbilt flag on the shelves,” Curry said. “They weren’t selling them. Now you drive down the street and all these people are popping up Vanderbilt flags left and right. He’s become the top of the conversation.”
Curry recently sat down with her new client in a sort of come-to-(marketing)-Jesus moment.
Quick, name three things you want to accomplish this final season.
“‘I’m going to win the Heisman,'” Curry recalled Pavia saying, “‘I’m going to get my team to the College Football Playoff, and I’m going to always take care of my mother.’
“This kid really thinks all of this is going to go down.”
The injunction led to the NCAA issuing a blanket waiver for 2025-26 for former junior college athletes in a similar position as Pavia. The waiver does not apply to all former JUCO players, just those whose eligibility is expiring. Other athletes, including Tennessee baseball player Alberto Osuna in the same state where Pavia won his ruling, have not been as fortunate.
The NCAA is appealing Pavia’s lawsuit while at the same time granting the waiver. But judging by recent history, the result of Pavia’s action may become permanent. The NCAA has been forced by courts in several recent situations to significantly adjust its rules. The association only reacted on NIL benefits themselves after the Supreme Court ruled against it in Alston.
“As long as NCAA has rules that feel arbitrary, they’re going to keep getting challenged,” Downton said.
While awaiting a ruling on his lawsuit in December, Pavia told this to The Tennessean:
“There’s a lot of money to be made in college football, just because of how much revenue is coming in. There’s a lot of people here [Vanderbilt] who work overtime, too.”
The Pavia action isn’t exactly a one-off for him, but Downton says he typically pursues “health care and security fraud stuff … that take years to resolve.”
This one already has the potential to shape eligibility standards going forward.
“I’ve got familiarity with the NCAA. They’ve got familiarity with me, which makes it easier to get their attention and get people to take you seriously,” Downton said.
As mentioned, this particular pursuit is personal. As a cheerleader and a fan, there were some down times for Vandy in the 1990s.
“It was a challenge,” Downton recalled. “At the same time, [it was] best training table in the country, according to Sports Illustrated. There was great camaraderie. Cheerleaders were part of the athletic department then.”
With college football getting ready to subdivide if you read the indicators, Vanderbilt doesn’t intend to be left behind. The school is the middle of a giant facilities/stadium upgrade. It makes some kind of cosmic sense, then, that Pavia — the athlete, brand and commodity — is now pursuing a master’s degree in … Legal Studies.
“I want to go to the league, but the best thing for me is to get another year in the SEC, the best [conference] in college football,” the quarterback said. “And do something that’s never been done here at Vanderbilt.”
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