Adversity At North Carolina Will Aid Drake Maye With Patriots

Drake Maye wasn’t the star who became a top-three NFL draft choice when he first arrived at North Carolina as a four-star prospect.

Maye, who the New England Patriots drafted No. 3 overall this past Thursday, grew into being that type of talent.

That meant overcoming some adversity along the way, but Maye is better off for facing certain obstacles. It also should prepare him well as he begins the next chapter of his football career and becomes the face of the Patriots franchise.

“Not a lot of people realize he sat behind Sam (Howell) his first year (and) red-shirted,” Maye’s oldest brother, Luke, said this past Friday at Gillette Stadium. “And then the next year he was battling it out with Jacoby Criswell for the No. 1 spot. It was a very, very tight race. You ask coach (Mack) Brown, it was back and forth, both guys played really well and Drake ended up coming out on top.”

Maye only threw seven passes as a true freshman, but turned in a breakout campaign the following season after earning the starting job over Criswell. He got on the national radar by throwing for 4,321 yards with 38 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Maye started all 14 games that year and started 12 more this past season.

It seemed he took the advice he got from his older brother, who starred on North Carolina’s basketball team and won a national title in 2017, to heart.

“I told him before that fall of 2022, ‘You get the opportunity to be the starter, you don’t let it go,'” Luke said. “You’re only given very few chances to be the guy and he took advantage, had an incredible year and built on it this past year. Hopefully he can do that here in New England.”

Luke understands that won’t come easy, though. Playing a professional sport is much different than college athletics. Luke tried to catch on in the NBA after his career at North Carolina concluded, but since a brief stint with the Milwaukee Bucks G League team, he has played exclusively overseas.

There will be plenty of pressure on Maye to do what Mac Jones couldn’t and develop into a franchise quarterback. It’s likely New England brings him along slowly and might not even start Maye as a rookie with veteran signal-caller Jacoby Brissett on the roster.

It won’t always be smooth sailing for Maye in the NFL. But he already has experience with that at North Carolina. And Luke has no doubt his youngest brother will be able to work through whatever is thrown his way.

“It’s going to be (a) different level, obviously, competition-wise, but he’s built for it,” Luke said. “He’s overcame three older brothers his whole life. It’s going to be tough. You’re going to have ups and downs. Being a professional athlete you go through trials and tribulations.

“He’s going to have to realize he’s going to have to continue to fight, continue to work hard. Once you get to this level, you got to work even harder because the guys are better, the coaches prepare better. It’s just going to be tough. But he’s ready for it.”