Ever since he was able to lead the New England Patriots back from the brink of irrelevance, there’s been a lot of love for the sophomore sensation that is Drake Maye, but of course, his biggest source of love and support still comes from his wife, Ann Michael Maye.
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The Patriots’ QB1 has been anything but shy when it comes to celebrating his second half, so even though he’s currently in the midst of preparing for his AFC Championship debut against the Denver Broncos, he was still willing to gush over her a bit more with the media this week.
During the Patriots’ most recent press scrum, the former Carolina Tar Heel suggested that he and his beloved try to keep their respective competitive fires alive by facing off with one another in various competitions. Sometimes that could mean board games, but more recently, however, Michael has found herself wanting to settle things on the tennis court.
“It could be board games. She started playing Mah Jong, I haven’t got into that but it’s usually something like that or playing battleship or cards or anything that goes off of me playing her. We pick up tennis a little bit in the offseason. I try to take it easy on the shoulder a little bit but she’s picked up tennis and will try anything that we can compete in.”
Unfortunately for Michael, it’s almost impossible to be more competitive than an NFL quarterback, and Maye was even willing to admit that as well. Whether he’s squaring off against his wife or the Houston Texans’ top-ranked pass rush, the 23 year old doesn’t care much for losing.
Simply put, “Any time the score is being kept, you want to win.” Where others may feel the need to “flip a switch” on game days, the Patriots QB1 has a natural compulsion to win.
“I’ve kept that mentality my whole life,” he noted. “That’s for my older brothers to playing my wife in something to playing out and playing football… It doesn’t matter if it matters or not. Winning is more fun.”
That inherent drive is exactly what Maye’s head coach, Mike Vrabel, will be banking on come Sunday afternoon when they are tasked with scoring against the third-stingiest defense in the NFL. Conveniently enough, however, that’s exactly what the oddsmakers are forecasting by listing New England as -4.5 point favorites while offering a point total of 42.5.
The comeback on the home team is a dead even +200, but given the potency of this Patriots offense, which just so happened to be the second-highest scoring team in all of professional football, it’s safe to say that the sharp money will be on New England and their overly-competitive quarterback this weekend.
