Patriots quarterback Drake Maye is following within the footsteps of Tom Brady, far past simply the soccer subject.
Maye has taken over the reins from Brady as an envoy for Finest Buddies, a global group that helps numerous people with mental disabilities throughout New England.
This spring will mark Maye’s third yr as honorary chairman of the Finest Buddies Problem: Hyannis Port, which pulls over 1,000 individuals to Cape Cod to boost funds to assist the trigger. Final yr’s occasion raised over $4 million.
The occasion options biking, operating and strolling races together with clambakes. This yr, it would embrace a golf outing with the Patriots’ star second-year quarterback, set to look in his first Tremendous Bowl on Sunday.
Anthony Shriver based Finest Buddies Worldwide in 1989. The group operates in 44 international locations and all 50 states, reaching roughly 1,000,000 individuals a yr. He known as it a “blessing” to have Maye as an envoy in Massachusetts.
“He helps us develop our applications to serve individuals with mental disabilities, which, on the finish of the day, is what the entire thing is about,” Shriver advised the Herald. “It’s nice to have individuals share our values and to have good high quality individuals.”
“There are a number of celebrities and a number of gifted athletes on the market,” the founder added, “however to have the identical values as somebody is tremendous necessary to us and our tradition. Drake 100% matches the invoice.”
Maye is main two fundraising initiatives by means of the Finest Buddies Problem: Hyannis Port. These are Staff Drake Maye, and Staff 10, through which individuals can be part of by donating $10 a month or a one-time $110 donation to obtain an unique Staff 10 t-shirt. Proceeds assist friendship, jobs, and management applications.
“We’re slowly however certainly constructing it,” Shriver stated of partnering with Maye, “not placing a number of stress on him to do a bunch of stuff, however to sort of work with him and his household, … and permit us develop our programming in Massachusetts.”
Brady, who led the Patriots to 6 Tremendous Bowl championships, partnered with Finest Buddies for over 20 years. Throughout his time, Shriver estimated that the legendary quarterback helped elevate greater than $100 million for the group.
Brady served because the honorary chairman of the annual problem occasion on the Cape, however he additionally hosted two-hand contact soccer video games at Harvard Stadium.
Earlier than the Patriots chosen Maye with the third decide within the 2024 NFL Draft, Shriver stated a partnership with the quarterback from the College of North Carolina had already been shaped.
A sports activities agent on the Finest Buddies board of administrators, Brad Clean, is aware of Maye’s father, Mark Maye, initiating a connection.
“We thought we’d get him concerned with Finest Buddies; he’d be the sort of man to be concerned, irrespective of the place he went, no matter metropolis,” Shriver stated of Maye.
“We thought when he went to New England, it was the right shot for us. … To get Drake to step in and sort of fill in the place Tom left off, it clearly has been method higher than we thought it’d be.”
Maye agrees: “I feel it’s an ideal match… what I characterize,” the quarterback has stated previously. “You notice that there’s larger issues on the market than soccer”.
