With Super Bowl 60 against the Seattle Seahawks looming, the spotlight on Drake Maye is only getting brighter. But as the New England Patriots’ young quarterback prepares for the biggest stage of his life, he’s quick to point the credit elsewhere. Back home, to the brothers who shaped him long before the NFL ever did.
Drake Maye Makes Sure To Give His Brothers Their Flowers
Maye didn’t hesitate when asked about his heroes. At Super Bowl media day, with cameras flashing and the biggest game of his life ahead, the Patriots quarterback didn’t point to an NFL legend or a childhood idol. He looked to ‘his’ people.
“I think my hero would be my probably my older brothers,” Maye said. “I think my heroes, just leaving up, you know, growing up with them, having somebody, you know, that’s that close to me, you know, kind of live their own lives and me just learn from them.”
As the youngest of four, Maye grew up in pursuit mode. Always observing. Always trying to close the gap. “From them and be the youngest brother and have the opportunity to kind of have something to chase,” he explained. “You know, I was chasing my older brothers.”
Each brother had his own lane, his own drive. “They all had a passion,” Maye said. “I was just trying to find a passion for myself that I could kind of, you know, follow them and it happened to be football and now I’m here.”
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That closeness hasn’t faded with fame. According to People Magazine, the “brothers share a close-knit bond,” with Maye describing his older siblings as his “best friends.” It’s a relationship that’s followed him from Cornelius, North Carolina, all the way to the Super Bowl.
The competitiveness is baked in. “(Having) three older brothers, everything we’re doing, we’re trying to win,” Maye said in a recent ESPN report. “I think it’s kinda part of who we are and we embrace it, and we love it.”
When the New England drafted him in 2024, his brothers were right there with him, sharing the moment. And even now, after games, Maye often talks about something simple: getting time with them.
Athletics run deep in the Maye household. Drake is the youngest son of Mark and Aimee Maye, and all four brothers grew up competing. Luke, the oldest, became a North Carolina basketball legend, hitting the iconic game-winner against Kentucky in 2017 that sent UNC to the Final Four. A run that ended with a national championship. He now plays professionally overseas in Japan, per a Yahoo Sports report.
Cole carved his own championship path on the diamond, pitching for the University of Florida and winning an NCAA national title in 2017 as well. That same year, two Maye brothers won national championships in two different major sports. Beau, meanwhile, also played basketball at UNC, continuing the Tar Heels lineage.
The roots go even deeper. Aimee Maye was a star basketball player at West Charlotte High School, while Mark Maye played football for the North Carolina Tar Heels from 1983 to 1988. Long before Drake Maye was leading the Patriots toward Super Bowl LX, he was learning how to compete, how to chase, and how to win… It’s just the Mayes’ way!
