- Born:
- August 30, 2002, Huntersville, North Carolina, U.S. (age 24)
Drake Maye
Who is Drake Maye?
What is Drake Mayeâs nickname?
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Drake Maye (born August 30, 2002, Huntersville, North Carolina, U.S.) is an American football quarterback who plays for the New England Patriots. A star player with the University of North Carolina, he was picked third in the 2024 NFL draft, and in just his second season Maye led the Patriots in a historic turnaround. The teamâs 10-win improvement tied a record, and New England advanced to the Super Bowl but lost to the Seattle Seahawks. Maye was runner-up for the leagueâs 2025 MVP award.
Early life
Maye is the youngest of four sons born to Mark and Aimee Maye. Both parents were athletes in their youthâhis mother was a star high school basketball player, and his father was the starting quarterback on the University of North Carolina football team. All three of his brothers also excelled in sports, especially baseball and basketball. Maye played basketball and football at Myers Park High School in Charlotte, North Carolina. He became the starting quarterback in his sophomore year, and as a junior he surpassed a state record with a 72 percent completion rateâthe same stat he would attain in the 2025 NFL seasonâwhile throwing 50 touchdown passes and only two interceptions.
After his senior season was canceled because of COVID-19, Maye went on to star at the University of North Carolina. In his three seasons there (2021â23), he completed 618 of 952 passes (64.9 percent) for 8,018 yards and had 63 touchdown passes. In 2022 Maye was named Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year.
New England Patriots
2024
Coming off a 4â13 record in 2023âlast in the American Football Conference East divisionâthe Patriots selected Maye with the third overall pick in the 2024 draft. Long one of the NFL powerhouses, the franchise had gone into a rut since superstar quarterback Tom Brady left the team after the 2019 season, making just one playoff appearance since then. After the selection, Maye said it was âone of the best nights of my life,â and Patriots owner Robert Kraft said that the team had gotten the âtop-rate, young quarterbackâ he had sought.
New England did not immediately improve in Mayeâs rookie season, posting another 4â13 record and again finishing in last place. Maye played in 13 games, going 3â10, but made the Pro Bowl. He was 13th in the league for completion percentage (66.6) and 23rd for passer rating (88.1). Maye finished eighth in voting for the NFL AP Offensive Rookie of the Year.
2025
Maye had a truly transcendent regular season in 2025, leading the league in several categories, including passer rating (113.5), completion percentage (72), and total offense (4,643 yards). âThis season, no quarterback has been as precociously stellarâbrilliant, reallyâas Maye, a 23-year-old North Carolinian with a golden arm and a nickname that no one quite understands,â wrote Jason Gay in an article for The Wall Street Journal. âââDrake Maye,â they call him. As in Drake âDrake Mayeâ Maye. As in Drake Mayeâs so good, he doesnât need a nickname.â
In a 42â10 throttling of the New York Jets, Maye put together one of the best quarterback performances in NFL history, completing 19 of 21 passesâa whopping 90.5 percentâfor 256 yards and five touchdowns. No NFL QB had ever combined these three milestones in one game: at least five touchdowns, a minimum of 250 yards, and a completion rate of 90 percent or better. Maye, who is talented at escaping pass rushes and scrambling for gains, also picked up 22 yards on three carries.
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Mayeâs stellar 2025 performance led the Patriots from worst to first in the AFC East. They finished the regular season with a 14â3 record and earned the second seed in the AFC playoffs under Mike Vrabel in his first year as their head coach. The 10-win improvement matched the highest in league history, joining the 1998 Indianapolis Colts and the 2008 Miami Dolphins. A year after averaging just 17 points per gameâthird from the bottom in the NFLâNew England averaged 28.8 points a game, second-best behind the Los Angeles Ramsâ 30.5. New England hosted the Los Angeles Chargers in the Patriotsâ first home playoff game since 2019, the last year of the Brady era in New England. The Patriots won, 16â3, and then defeated the Houston Texans in the divisional round. Maye next led New England to a win over the Denver Broncos in the AFC championship game, and the Patriots advanced to the Super Bowl, where they faced the Seattle Seahawks. The 23-year-old Maye was the second-youngest quarterback to start in the title game. However, he and the Patriots struggled against the Seattle Seahawksâ dominating defenseâMaye was sacked six timesâand New England lost, 29â13.