BOSTON (WHDH) - Drake Maye is fired up about being in Boston.
“The fans are just awesome,” Maye said in an interview with 7’s Marlee Wierda. “It’s such a great sports town.”
Since he was picked number three in the NFL Draft, his schedule has been packed with workouts and practices. But he’s made time to see the Bruins and Celtics in the playoffs.
“At the Bruins game, me and one of my receivers went together, Jaylen Polk, and we got stormed up there on the concourse,” Maye said. “The Celtics game that I went to was awesome, fired up. I think it’s the best thing about Boston — sports town — great people who love to win, so we share that in common.”
Maye also spoke about getting to talk to Jayson Tatum at the Celtics game.
“I’m a big fan of Jayson, even though he went to Duke, a little rivalry in college, but big fan and best of luck to them in the finals,” Maye said. “I think it was an hour before the game, so he was pretty locked in, but I think he said congrats and welcome to Boston and I’m sure I’ll see him around.”
Just like Tatum, Maye comes to a storied team that has high expectations for him. He’s learning what it takes to win from new head coach Jarod Mayo who is bringing a fresh energy to the team.
“I think the best thing is the vibe around the locker room. Everybody has been getting acclimated together and looking forward to seeing what we’ve got this year,” Maye said.
With Mayo being a new head coach, the team is starting a new chapter together, Maye said.
“It’s one of the good things about coming here with Coach Mayo his first year. Us rookies kind of starting together and getting something going, not feeling like you have to catch up on some of the culture, and the work, I think there’s already something cemented in the Patriots about working hard — no short cuts — and the proof is in the pudding. So Coach Mayo is continuing some of that… We got a good thing going.”
When asked if it has set in that he could be the next franchise quarterback for the Patriots, Maye said it hasn’t.
“I think I got a lot of work to do, so it hasn’t set in,” he said.
Maye has spent some time with Tom Brady and says he’s learning some important X’s and O’s from TB12.
“I think it’s one of the best things that Tom was saying after he won one of the Super Bowls, he said his favorite one was the next one, so kind of that mindset. You got a lot of work to do, but at the same time, take time to step away from it and realize playing quarterback for the New England Patriots is a pretty sweet deal. So there’s two ways to look at it but right now I got a lot of work to do.”
“I think the biggest thing for me was just the respect of how they did it year after year in the playoffs and the Super Bowls, obviously I haven’t gotten a real grasp of that yet, but I’m getting a little taste of it here in OTAs, in the weight room, and you see 2005, 2006 workouts of the week and all these names, and Tom up there and Edelman and Gronk and all those guys, and Slater, so getting a chance to be a part of all that, it’s kind of cool to see after watching them all those years in those Super Bowls,” Maye continued.
Maye said that “earning his spot” is motivation for him.
“I think winning on Sundays and playing quarterback in the NFL is one of the toughest jobs in sports, so I take that as a challenge and hopefully gather with the New England fans and show them what I got,” he said.
Training camp kicks off at the end of July, but for now, the rookie will continue learning the ropes at organized team activities.
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