Will a couple of inches make a difference to NFL teams?
Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia was one of the standouts of the 2025 college football season and even earned himself a Heisman Trophy nomination.
Still, as much as he had going for him this season, he’s still facing one big question: what the hell is up with the discrepancy between his listed height and his actual height?
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This is because ahead of the Senior Bowl, Pavia was measured just like everyone else, and they found that his height was 5-feet, 9-and-7/8-inches.
However, the Commodores website lists him at 6 feet.
“My size has been doubted my whole life,” Pavia said when asked about the difference, according to “The Athletic’s” Zac Jackson. “The only thing the NFL cares about is can you win?”
First of all, let’s get this clear right away: 5’9 7/8″ is basically 5’10” if he stands up a little straighter. Nothing wrong with that. I’ve said many, many times that 5’10” is nature’s perfect height, and not just because I’m 5’10” and also incredibly handsome and good at Skee-Ball.
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It makes your height invisible. No one calls you short, but no one calls you tall.
Plus, you can fit in cars and beds, and you can also reach higher shelves.
The only time it may not help you is when you’re trying to get drafted by an NFL franchise, and that’s Pavia’s conundrum.
But everyone fudges the numbers when it comes to their height and weight, and in sports, you’re always looking to seem bigger than you are. You do it on dating profiles or when you’re buying pants.
We all lie to ourselves and say we’re a 34 when we know damn well we wear a 36.
Hell, I remember one year in high school, my hockey teammates and I all listed our height as our real height on skates just to terrify the rest of the league.
So, cut Pavia some slack… even if trying to jump from a shade under nature’s perfect height to six-feet is a pretty big jump.
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