A lot has happened to Diego Pavia since that spectacular upset over then-No. 1 Alabama. The fifth-year senior QB rallied underdog Vanderbilt in a 40-35 victory over Kalen DeBoer and witnessed immediate stardom. Following the win, his NIL valuation had a staggering boost with deals coming in from various angles. In his interview on The Dan Patrick Show, he listed “Lululemon, Ferrari, Nike, and Dr Pepper” as his areas of interest in collaboration. But a name he never mentioned was also riding with him without his consent.

Not everything on the internet is true! Diego Pavia just exposed a scam benefitting from his name. In a new X post on October 15, he shared a post from an X account called BreakingT which was selling T-shirts with Diego Pavia’s name and the statement “VANDY WE TURNT.” As tempting as it looks, the Vanderbilt QB sternly warned in the caption, “This is not me.. WE HAVENT WORKED OUT A DEAL! DO NOT ORDER.”

BreakingT describes itself as “the worldwide leader in real-time sports apparel” on its X description. But as Diego Pavia has cleared the air, it throws a bad look on the brand as it appears as nothing less than trying to exploit the rising star’s NIL for their profit. A lot of lucrative deals have sprung up for Pavia after he led Vanderbilt in the once-in-a-lifetime victory over Alabama to break their 40-year losing streak over the SEC powerhouse. 

In their win over the Crimson Tide, Diego Pavia completed 16 of 20 passes for 252 yards and two touchdowns. In his post-game conference, he said, “Games like this change your life. It’s all about hype nowadays, and I don’t like it like that, but it’s a reality of NIL and all that stuff.” Indeed, his NIL valuation saw a staggering rise of $340K which boosted his total earnings to $711,000. Pavia has continued to maintain this momentum in their next game against Kentucky. 

Diego Pavia makes a request following Kentucky win

Yes, you earned it, you have the right to ask for it. Video games are the hype now and Diego Pavia wants to be better than what he’s been rated by EA Sports in the EA Sports College Football 25 video game. After the stellar showdown against Alabama, Pavia led his team to another impressive 20-13 win over the 14-point favorite Kentucky, the same team that defeated Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss in Week 5. 

Diego Pavia finished the game by completing 15 of 18 passes for 143 yards and two touchdowns. He also racked up 14 carries for 53 yards on the ground. After handing the second SEC upset, he made a request to EA Sports via X saying, “79? Can I get an updated rating and drip?” This plea came after the company raised the ratings of some players including Boise State RB Ashton Jeanty. Pavia currently has an overall rating of 79. He deserves an upgrade, don’t you think?