The New England Patriots enter Super Bowl LX tonight as underdogs against the Seattle Seahawks, but head coach Mike Vrabel has continued to ensure that belief inside the locker room will not waver.
Much of that confidence stems from the rapid rise of Drake Maye, whose poise and growth throughout the season have given New England a chance few expected back in September.
Maye now finds himself on the doorstep of rare NFL history. With a win tonight, he would become the first quarterback since the legendary Tom Brady in 2001 to win a Super Bowl in the same season as his first career playoff start.
Several talented quarterbacks have reached this stage in recent years, only to fall short on football’s biggest night. Now, on the sport’s grandest stage, Maye has a chance to do something no quarterback has accomplished in more than two decades, and to further cement his arrival as the face of the Patriots’ next era.
Drake Maye can match this Tom Brady milestone in Super Bowl LX
While any such comparisons between Maye and Brady are obviously premature, that hasn't stopped the narratives from being discussed this season. And after the year Maye has had, perhaps they're a bit warranted.
The North Carolina product finished runner-up behind Matthew Stafford in one of the closest MVP races the NFL has seen in years, following a spectacular sophomore season that saw him finish with 31 touchdowns, eight interceptions, 4,394 yards, and a league-best 72% completion rate.
Maye has elevated his status and is a big reason why the Patriots emerged as one of the best teams in the NFL this season. It may be a little early for the Brady comparisons, but it's always fun to create some early narratives.
Four other quarterbacks have made the Super Bowl in the same season they made their first career playoff start since Brady's win in 2001: Jake Delhomme (2003), Colin Kaepernick (2012), Jimmy Garoppolo (2019), and Joe Burrow (2021). All four have fallen short.
Maye has a chance to silence his doubters and secure the Patriots' seventh Super Bowl title in franchise history. He may not be Brady yet, but stats like this are how those comparisons begin to feel real.