To say that New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye is doing a lot of great things on the football field these days would be a massive understatement. The second-year pro is currently the front-runner for NFL MVP through 11 games.
Not surprisingly, Pats owner Robert Kraft is thrilled with the play of his new franchise QB. But according to new comments from Kraft, it’s Maye’s character and mindset that Kraft loves more than anything the 23-year-old does on the gridiron.
“Drake is very humble and comes from a wonderful family,” Kraft said recently, per ESPN’s Mike Reiss. “I love that he married his seventh-grade girlfriend (Ann Michael Hudson). He’s not into glitz. He’s into hard work and doing what has to be done, and that’s a good New England culture — and what our family and people in this region are about. And we like to win.”
The winning and the high-character approach is all connected, of course. Let’s not get too carried away with Kraft’s insistence that substance trumps success in importance (he wouldn’t be praising Maye like this if the Pats were 2-9). But it’s not outlandish to suggest that Kraft understands and values the notion that character drives success, particularly at the quarterback position.
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Kraft knows from watching a guy by the name of Tom Brady that a good family foundation and a relentless work ethic can lead to greatness on the field. This is not to say that both qualities are required for a player to succeed, but it’s become somewhat of a blueprint in New England during Kraft’s tenure, mostly due to the timeless example set by TB12.
Another quality of Maye’s that Kraft didn’t mention is selflessness. This is a quality that Brady had in New England, and it’s also one that head coach Mike Vrabel has infused every corner of the franchise’s “new” culture with (it’s not really new, but a continuation of the Brady era that suffered a six-year interruption).
Patriots players under Vrabel are always shouting each other out in the media. Maye is constantly deflecting praise to his teammates, or even to opposing players, recently claiming that “MVP!” chants directed at him within the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ stadium must have been intended for Baker Mayfield.
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Brady has also been known to praise his peers, recently declaring that Aaron Rodgers is the greatest thrower of the football that the sport has ever seen.
When you’re confident in your abilities and comfortable in your own skin, it shouldn’t be a chore to compliment others around you. In fact, it comes naturally, because you don’t see praising others as a threat to yourself.
That’s a winning mindset. It’s a team-first mindset. It’s the kind of mentality bouncing off the walls of the Patriots’ locker room in 2025, much like it did during the Brady era. Kraft must be experiencing a bit of déjà vu.
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