Drake Maye had great gesture for his teammates at North Carolina

May 11, 2024; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye (10) works out at at the New England Patriots rookie camp at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports

Drake Maye has all the physical attributes a quarterback needs to succeed in the NFL, and his former coach says you will not find a better teammate, either.

North Carolina head coach Mack Brown has spoken highly of Maye’s character since well before the NFL Draft. Earlier this week, Brown gave Ben Volin of The Boston Globe a great example of the type of selfless player Maye was with the Tar Heels. Brown said Maye would not take any name, image, likeness deals unless other Tar Heels players were also included.

“Drake would not take any opportunities with NIL without including other players,” Brown said. “So if they came and said, ‘We want you to do this advertisement,’ he said, ‘Well, the offensive linemen need to be with me, and they need to be paid.’ (A company said), ‘Well, we want you to get fed through the seafood company for the year.’ And he said, ‘That’s great. The receivers and their families need to get fed, too.’ So that’s just who he is.”

Brown also said Maye was “tampered with at the highest level” by other programs offering him money to transfer, but the quarterback assured Brown he would not consider leaving.

The Patriots used the No. 3 overall pick on Maye. They could have taken former Michigan quarterback JJ McCarthy, but they opted for the player they felt had more upside. We heard a lot about McCarthy’s character leading up to the draft, and Brown feels the same applies to Maye.

Maye seemed very excited when he arrived at Patriots’ rookie minicamp on Friday, which led to everyone making the same joke.