Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia made his rounds on a number of sports talk shows Wednesday following the program’s historic victory over Alabama this past weekend. But without a doubt, Pavia’s appearance on College Football Live was his most meaningful of the day after getting a surprise visit from someone he molds his game after.
Before Pavia’s monumental upset win over Alabama, we saw former Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel make Alabama look mortal during the peak of their powers in Tuscaloosa.
Both Pavia and Manziel found themselves putting up excellent individual stat lines against a traditionally fierce Alabama defense despite arguably being undersized for the position.
During his appearance on College Football Live, Pavia likened his game to Manziel’s due to their shared “electric mentality” on the field.
“I think we kinda bring that same electric mentality to the football game,” said Pavia. “We both are big believers in ourselves. I haven’t gotten the chance to talk to Johnny. But we’re wired different. We’ll do anything to win. I feel like we have a lot of the same playstyle.”
Pavia then went on to speak about what it was like to have his family in attendance for their upset win. But before his guest appearance ended, he was actually joined by Manziel, which led a completely shocked Pavia to say “Oh s***.”
Once the shock passed, Manziel congratulated Pavia and wished him the best for the rest of the season.
“Man, what an awesome game,” said Manziel. “So fun to watch bro. Couldn’t be happier for you. I mean, sitting in there watching the whole thing play out. It has to feel like, maybe 2012 for me. But man, appreciate you showing me a lot of love. I hope I got the chance to come on here and show you the same thing.”
“I appreciate that Johnny,” said Pavia in response. “Hopefully you get to come out to a football game man. We’re electric down here.”
Diego Pavia’s favorite QB, Johnny Manziel, surprised the Vandy QB to congratulate him on the big win over Bama 👏 pic.twitter.com/1oZeuoQtVM
— ESPN (@espn) October 9, 2024
Based on this interview alone, it sure seems like Manziel is likely someone who Pavia looked up to growing up. So it is quite a cool moment to see Pavia get to chat with Manziel thanks to his own special moment over the weekend.
[ESPN]
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.