You never want to assume with something as weird as the NFL Draft. Having said that, it seems a safe bet to say that Drake Maye is only a few days away from becoming the face of an NFL franchise. Maye, the 6’4 gunslinger out of the University of North Carolina, has been pegged as a potential top-5 pick in the 2024 Draft for some time, as he’s really big, really mobile, and has the sort of arm talent that teams covet.
At the very least, Maye looks the part — watching him play for the Tar Heels over the last few years has been a joy, as Maye carries himself like a star quarterback and can create the sorts of highlights that make you wonder what he can be if he reaches his ceiling. Don’t take it from me, here’s what his head coach in Chapel Hill said recently.
“What he’s got is the upside is unbelievable because he can improve so much — every year,” Mack Brown recently told Jim Rome. “And I don’t think there’s any question. You got to get with the right team. You got to have the right coaches, but he’s a guy that can win a Super Bowl at quarterback.”
In a few days, we’ll find out which team is going to try and win a Super Bowl with Maye under center. But before then, Uproxx Sports caught up with him to discuss his partnership with Call of Duty, making the jump to the NFL, and much more.
What do you have going on with Call of Duty?
First off, it’s easily the GOAT game of all the games out there. Starting with the early days of Black Ops and playing Zombies and all that to today. The new Call of Duty is Warzone Mobile, Warzone Mobile came out just last month, I got a chance to check it out at the Combine in early March before it came out, got a preview of it. It was sweet, the first thing I noticed is how some of the graphics are compared to the console, it’s really just an extension of Call of Duty: Warzone, playing on console — I play on PS5, and now getting a chance with all the travel, I really don’t have time, an hour or two throughout the day, to sit down and plug into the TV and play.
So now, just having a chance on my phone to whip it out, still play with my friends and teammates, it was an awesome experience. And I think it’s going to be a hit, and I’m looking forward to seeing how it does, but right off the bat, something that jumped out to me. Shoot, I got it on my phone now, kind of figured out this two button thing and I want to load out and play a little bit of Rebirth Resurgence. I’m just trying to get right there and get some wins with my buddies and my teammates, it’s been sweet.
Who is the best Warzone player on North Carolina’s football team?
Gavin Blackwell, he’s receiver. He came in the class with me, he’s really good at Call of Duty. And also Sam Howell, I’ll credit Sam Howell. Sam and Gavin went to the same high school, they played Call of Duty growing up and I kinda started playing with them. Those two are on a different level. I credit them, and I’ve caught them a little bit in the the late years. But nah, they’re still a good bit ahead of me.
Obviously, we’re here because this week is the NFL Draft, the thing you’ve been working towards for God knows how long. Has it hit you that you’re going to the NFL this week? Or do you think that’s not going to happen until you hear your name called, you’re up on stage shaking commissioner’s hand?
I think it’ll really hit when you walk across that stage and get the chance to be in there, in the green room, and go to the Draft. It’s something you always dream of and getting the opportunity is something I’m gonna try to enjoy and embrace, got all my family coming in, a bunch of friends and family. It’ll be an awesome experience. But yeah, I think right now, it hasn’t really settled, hasn’t really hit, but I think once you walk across that stage and see the commissioner, whatever ends up happening, get a chance to hear your name called, and hear that phone ring would be pretty special.
You’re coming here after a couple of really productive years at North Carolina. What would you say is the biggest way that UNC has prepared you for this jump to the NFL?
I think the job that coach Brown did of bringing in NFL people. First off coach Christiansen, who came in as our quarterbacks [coach] this past year, he coached Tom Brady with the Buccaneers and Peyton Manning with the Colts, so, not too bad of players that he coached. So getting a chance to be around him, learn from him — they always say the NFL is a business, but really more than that is that it’s still football. There’s a more business side to it, but at the same time, it’s still 11 guys each side of the ball trying to make plays, that extent of it.
But what coach Brown has done here of getting me prepared — coach Brown, one of his best sayings is football is easy, people are complicated. So, just keeping that in mind and taking it one play at a time and just being myself. I think it’s the best thing, the people at North Carolina make this place special, so I’m glad I had great people around with the same interests that kept me going.
You entered this year with expectations of ending up in the spot that you’re in right now — you’re going to be a top-5 pick, you’re going to be the face of an NFL franchise, all that stuff. Did you feel that at all while you were going through this season?
It’s a great question. I wouldn’t say that it was a pressure on me, something that I was always, constantly, “Hey, I got to play well to still have that in sight.” I think it was more of keeping the same things that got me here, keep that in mind and keep that the main thing. Worry about football and when I’m in season, all I got to do is play ball and make sure I get my grades on time. So, really not losing sight of what got me here is kind of what I kept in mind and knowing doing that, that I could possibly end up in this position. And I’m blessed to be here and just excited to hopefully hear my name called and get to a new city.
What’s the biggest bit of feedback that you’ve heard from NFL teams in basically any direction as you’ve gone through this process and they sit you down and say, “Hey Drake, we’ve noticed this about you, this about you, this about you”?
Right off the bat, they always say this year will be the longest year of my football years. You come out of college, into the season, you get ready for Draft prep, get ready for the Combine, get ready for private workouts, get ready for Pro Day, then you’re going straight to the Draft, and you’re going straight from the Draft, you go right to rookie minicamp and training camp and OTAs and summer training camp. And then, next thing you know, you got a 20-week season when you’re used to college having 12 weeks.
So, I think the biggest thing is they kind of warn me about just the biggest year and longest year that I’ll have in my career, and just embrace it, enjoy it, and find ways to get outside of football and find things that I enjoy doing. Personally, I think the biggest thing they say is just continue to be myself, don’t try to be somebody I’m not. And I think I’ve tried to stick to that, because all these teams, they don’t want to see somebody get into a meeting or going into their facility and they’re different than what I showed them throughout the process. So, just be myself and be honest with them and if they don’t like Drake Maye, they can go draft somebody else.
And kind of going off of that, when you sit down with those NFL teams, or you sit down with anyone and you get asked the question, “Why should we make you the face of our franchise?” What is your response to that?
I’m a guy who is gonna come in here day one, earn people’s respect, not trying to be a hotshot rookie. Fortunately, the possibility getting drafted high, trying to go in there and earn respect, create genuine relationships. And from there, I think I’ll let my play on the field speak for itself and get ready to go out there and compete. I’m a competitor, I just hate losing more than I like to win — going out there and realizing you came up short is just one of the worst feelings, whether you’re playing Warzone Mobile or playing pickleball or playing football, just coming out there and coming up short is a bad feeling.
When I watch you, something that really sticks out is your ability to make stuff happen when there’s chaos around you. It’s almost at the point where it looks like you like being in environments where you have a 280 pound defensive end flying at you, or you have to make magic happen. Where does your comfort in those situations come from?
I got a lot of reps at North Carolina, people love to heat me up and try to get after me after my first big couple games starting two years ago back in ’22. Since then, they’ve tried to come after, heat me up. Had to avoid some people, throw around some people, like I said, hang in there and take the hits and then deliver the football. I think the more you do it, the more you become comfortable with something, and I feel like going to the NFL, I have a lot of reps of doing that and getting ready to make plays and hang in there and take a hit, and I think that will translate well.
Who are your favorite quarterbacks to watch, whether they’re in the NFL now or they’re previously in the NFL? And what is it about their games that you watch and you go, “I see a little bit of myself in that”?
First off, right away, you’ve always gotta say Patrick Mahomes, he’s so fun to watch. Anytime, no matter the score, Patrick’s got the ball in his hand last, I think the other team’s worried and everybody watching knows what’s gonna happen. But other than that, guys I try to emulate my game after, I think Joe Burrow, the way he handles himself and his swag — I don’t got much swag like him, but kind of his swag. Josh Allen, I think those two guys have the ability to make plays with their feet and throwing the football, it’s kind of what I strive to be like and I think they’re doing the right thing. So, just trying to be half the player they are so.
One guy I know you’re close to and you mentioned a little earlier is Sam Howell — guy before you at UNC, guy who is in the NFL now. He’s had an interesting NFL career so far, has he told you anything about making this jump to the NFL, how the NFL game is different, things like that?
He’s been great. I think it’s always nice having a guy from your same area growing up, at the same college, two years ahead of you — I think it’s the perfect gap of getting a year to sit behind him and learn how to play, learn how to be a college quarterback, learn how to be a star college quarterback, and from there, go to the NFL, transition into it. The biggest thing Sam said other than be myself and don’t change once all these things and big events happen in my life, don’t lose sight of what got you there. He’s been great at that.
He just said just put the work in, man. I think that’s what Sam said, there’s people out there that, once they get money, kind of let that be the factor of, “Hey, I made it once I got money.” Instead, Sam’s been like, “Hey, I think the guys that I’ve seen succeed in the NFL are the guys that [say] ‘I haven’t made an All-Pro team or haven’t made a Super Bowl or haven’t won the conference championship competition.’” I think those are the guys that Sam said he tends to respect and seeing that work out.
I always love asking dudes about teammates in the draft and specifically here I want to ask about Tez Walker. I love watching him play, he is such a weapon when he’s out there. As someone who threw to him a ton, what is it that makes him such a dangerous player and such a friend to a quarterback?
The most dangerous thing about Tez is he’s 6’3, about 205 pounds, and if you give him some space, he’s gonna run right by you every single time. His speed is so deceptive — you saw he ran a 4.3 whatever at the Combine. You know he’s fast, but when you get in games and the corner’s four or five yards off, looking with his eyes back to the quarterback, playing whatever coverage, pressing him up on the line, you’ll get good hands on him, he is gone. And you can see that throwing an out to him — I have to throw it, like, we’re throwing an in route or an out route, I have to throw it 3-5 yards ahead of where I throw it to other guys with how quick he’s moving and sliding into his routes. He’s pretty special. I think he’s such a humble kid and so grounded and doesn’t say much. So, I think that deceptive speed will get you, and I think he’s just a ballplayer and I’m excited to see him in the NFL.
My last question: I know you grew up a Tar Heel, know your dad played football, brothers played basketball. Who is on your Mount Rushmore of UNC athletes whether it’s basketball, football, women’s soccer team is great, just any UNC athletes?
That’s a great question. I’m starting off with two easy ones: MJ and Lawrence Taylor, that’s two easy ones to get out the way. You gotta go to the two GOATs of each sport, in my opinion. Starting out with those two is easy to get out the way. I loved watching Tyler Hansbrough, I gotta throw Tyler Hansbrough in there. He kind of set the staple for the coach Williams era, the way he played, all the pictures of him bleeding, how much he hated Duke. Got to get to know him around here, he’s gotta be on there.
Erin Matson, the field hockey … now she’s the coach. Erin’s got to be on there, she’s a four-year, four-time champ, player of the year and all the accolades you can think of in field hockey. Now, she’s coaching in her first year, won the national championship, it’s hard to speak for that. So, those four, and let’s think of one more. Basketball’s so easy to say because basketball got so many legends. Let’s go.. I think Julius Peppers, what Julius Peppers did playing both sports, and growing up a Carolina Panthers fan, seeing Pep do his thing and being such a big fan of him doing both, he’s got to be on there for me. So, I think two basketball, two football, and a women’s athlete — Mia Hamm’s obviously easy to say, so many great ones from North Carolina, such a historic place for athletes.