Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Diego Pavia’s brothers have found themselves in trouble with the law on multiple occasions during his second season at Vanderbilt after being accused of causing a scene while drunk in public. However, the quarterback doesn’t seem overly concerned with that pattern of behavior, as he admitted he actually encouraged them to get drunk due to superstition.
In 2020, Diego Pavia kicked off his college career with a JUCO program in his native New Mexico and spent a couple of years honing his skills before heading to New Mexico State. The quarterback earned the starting job at Vanderbilt after transferring last season, and while the Commodores ultimately finished at 7-6, he attracted plenty of attention thanks in no small part to their upset of a top-ranked Alabama team in October.
Pavia talked a big game heading into the current season, and he largely managed to back it up. It doesn’t look like Vandy will be punching its ticket to the College Football Playoff due to losses to Alabama and Texas, but the Commodores have had one of their best seasons in the history of the program while surpassing the 10-win threshold for the first time.
Their QB has attracted some attention for his antics off the field, and the same can be said for his two brothers, Roel and Javier. Both of them have landed in jail after being charged with drunk and disorderly conduct, but Diego doesn’t seem overly concerned based on what he had to say about that pattern of behavior.
Diego Pavia says he encouraged his brothers to get drunk at games before they were arrested for public intoxication
Roel and Javier were more than happy to talk about their love of drinking while appearing on their little brother’s podcast prior to the start of the season, and it didn’t take very long for it to come back to bite them.
The two of them were both charged with public intoxication and resisting arrest during Vanderbilt’s season opener against Charleston Southern (Roel was also accused of assaulting a police officer), and on Saturday, Javier was treated to a premature exit from Neyland Stadium during his brother’s showdown with Tennessee after drawing another public drunkenness charge.
Some people might use that as an excuse to do some soul-searching, but during a recent sitdown on Bussin’ with the Boys, Diego attempted to partially justify their behavior by pinning some of the blame on themselves.
Diego said he did try to get his brothers to exercise some restraint before reversing course after noticing a trend, noting:
“Last year, we beat Alabama. We’re going on a crazy run; Kentucky, they were running wild too, and then it was like, ‘Hey, we need to calm down, everything is getting out of control.’
Ever since that day, we were 5-2. We only won one other game against Auburn and we barely slipped by, and they weren’t drinking. Nothing.
I was like, ‘You know what? F—k it. Next year, get hammered as much as you want. That’s the only time we win.’ And you know what? My brother only stayed sober for the Alabama game and the Texas game.”
I know a lot of athletes are superstitious, but when your beliefs end up with your brothers being repeatedly hauled off to jail, it might be time to reassess things.