While Bill Belichick was putting the finishing touches on his deal with North Carolina, former Tar Heels quarterback Drake Maye had his eyes on the legendary head coach’s run with the New England Patriots. The first-round rookie, who will start his ninth game as a Patriot this Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals, hopes to return the team to its glory days.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Maye talked about New England’s dynasty in the two decades with Belichick at the helm — and how the memory of that unprecedented run of success is starting to fade into the distance at One Patriot Place.
“You always hear about what it’s been in the past here at the playoff games,” Maye said. “The environment here in Gillette, and the advantage of us bringing teams that may not be more accustomed to the cold and the cold weather, and watching Tom [Brady] and those guys duke it out. Those runs they had were special.”
The players on the Patriots’ current roster who participated in those runs can be counted on one hand.
Among the 53 men on the active roster, only quarterback Jacoby Brissett, defensive lineman Deatrich Wise Jr., cornerback Jonathan Jones and long snapper Joe Cardona ever were part of a playoff game at Gillette Stadium. The same is true for center David Andrews and linebacker Ja’Whaun Bentley, who both will miss the remainder of the season on injured reserve.
The goal itself may be lofty, but Maye wants to lead the next generation of Patriots to similar success. For the 22-year-old, that is a process starts right now beginning with the upcoming game against the Cardinals.
“You want that feeling and those guys in the locker room, some of them had it. A lot of us young guys haven’t,” he explained. “I think we’re striving for that and can use these last four games as a challenge and as a step to, ‘Hey, what we have and what we got here on this team and who can help us and who can make some plays?’ ...
“Everybody’s got some urgency. Nobody wants a season like this year again. I think it’s two years in a row of a season like this and you start to worry. There’s definitely some urgency. You see it in those guys, and you see it especially in the veterans and in me. As a quarterback, there’s an urgency to get to that point and fix these things, work on them, get better, and use these last four games as a stepping stool.”