FOXBOROUGH – Around 12:15 on Friday on a perfect day to take a stroll around Patriots’ Place, one fan sat on a bench with a ‘Welcome Drake’ sign.
By the time Maye, Jonathan and Robert Kraft walked out of the home team tunnel and onto the field for his introductory press conference and official jersey photo op, about 20-30 fans lined the gate outside the stadium cheering and whistling. A handful even paid the $5 to get a glimpse from the top of the lighthouse.
It wasn’t a mob, but it was a sign of just how much hope fans have with the new face of the franchise tasked with leading the team back to relevancy.
Maye hopped on the Kraft’s plane this morning in Detroit and flew over the stadium when landing so he could see the giant ‘Welcome to Gillette Stadium Drake Maye’ messages on each video board. He face-timed with David Andrews on the plane, met Alex Van Pelt and T.C. McCartney and Ben McAdoo. He went up to the light house (despite being scared of heights), ran into Josh Uche in the building and was still being viciously harassed by his three brothers Luke, Cole and Bo. His longtime girlfriend since seventh grade Ann Michael was also by his side through the whirlwind 24 hours.
Maye seemed to revel in all of it with an abundance of confidence, while also exuding as much southern charm as possible.
Nothing will matter until he proves himself on the field, but the honeymoon period is off to a perfect start for both the Maye family and the Patriots organization.
“It’s a family-oriented organization. That means a lot to me,” said Maye. “Every time I’ve seen Coach Mayo he’s been in a workout outfit just putting in work. He’s still getting it in. I’m excited to play for him. He’s a player’s coach and understands and knows what it’s like playing as a Patriot. That’s something you just can’t buy nowadays being in this position.
“Mr. Kraft’s plane was awesome. That was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. We flew over the stadium and saw the ‘Welcome to Gillette Stadium Drake Maye,’ once-in-a-lifetime…it’s kind of hard to beat this day. Last night was awesome, but this day is almost trumping it.”
One other interesting aspect that leaps out early is just the circle that Maye has around him. Mac Jones was a very nice guy, but we all know about his tennis upbringing and how easy things ultimately were for him at Alabama with so much talent around him. Maye’s brothers are all very successful athletes and as the youngest, Drake is still humbled daily. This isn’t a commentary on Mac’s upbringing, but rather it just feels like Maye’s childhood and fight for respect through his career at UNC has him better prepared to take on this role.
“I think it’s a big part of it,” Maye said when asked about the competitiveness he has because of his family. “Always being the youngest brother, always being the runt for a while, they’re all over there, 6’7,” 6’8,” and 6’9,” I’m still the shortest. But, I was the instigator growing up. I was getting beat up on. Luckily I was the most athletic and could run away from them, they couldn’t catch me.
“But no, they played a big role in me getting here today and sports has done so much to our family and put us in this position. I’m just glad I get to share this moment with them. Those are my three best friends over there.”
A long time ago, Tom Brady told RKK he was the best decision he’d ever made.
Maye didn’t say that, but he’s ready to show the Krafts, Mayo and all those fans lined up outside Gillette why he can be the second-best decision in franchise history.
“The first thing I said (to RKK) was ‘thanks for trusting me, thanks for believing in me and hopefully I can make you not regret it,” Maye added. “That’s my goal. To come in here and work hard and win a lot of football games.”
