Former UNC Quarterback Drake Maye Ends Program’s Century-Long NFL Drought
By David Glenn
In the first 100-plus years of the National Football League, there had never been a top-tier quarterback from the University of North Carolina.
Never.
Until now.
image via Associated Press/Chris O’Meara
New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye, a former UNC superstar who became the #3 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft, has emerged this season as a top Most Valuable Player candidate in the professional ranks.
Entering the team’s recent bye week, the Patriots were 11-2 (tied for the NFL’s best record), and Maye led the league in passer rating (111.9), completion percentage (71.5) and passing yards (3,412). He had thrown 23 touchdown passes against only six interceptions.
Now, with four games remaining in the NFL’s regular season, oddsmakers list Maye and Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford as the league’s top MVP candidates.
“I think (Maye) is realizing what he can be and the impact that he makes on this offense and being our conductor,” Patriots coach Mike Vrabel said. “He means a great deal to this football team.”
“Just trying to be the face of the offense, trying to be the conductor — want the pressure, want the ball in my hands,” Maye said. “I know they feed off of me and feed off of my energy.”
The next two weeks will go a long way toward determining whether Maye will become the second UNC product ever to capture the NFL’s top individual player honor. (New York Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor won in 1986.) The Patriots host quarterback Josh Allen (the league’s 2024 MVP) and the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, then visit QB Lamar Jackson (2023 MVP) and the Baltimore Ravens on Dec. 21.
A two-time All-Atlantic Coast Conference player during his time in Chapel Hill (2021-23), Maye earned the league’s Player of the Year honor in 2022, putting an end to a lengthy program drought that had dated all the way back to — again — Taylor, in 1980.
Now, regardless of how this season ends for Maye, he will have proven himself — at just 23 years old — as the best NFL quarterback in UNC history.
While UNC has produced more than 250 NFL players overall, led by the likes of Hall of Fame defenders such as Taylor and Julius Peppers, the Tar Heels previously had shockingly little success at sending quarterbacks to the next level.
Indeed, until the past 15 years, Carolina had never even produced a quarterback who became an NFL starter.
That narrative started to change with TJ Yates (from the Butch Davis era), Mitch Trubisky (from the Larry Fedora era) and Sam Howell (from the Mack Brown era), who became the first three former Tar Heels to earn starting QB duties in the NFL.
In each of those cases, though, the players ultimately served more as backups at the pro level. Yates ended up with 12 career starts in six NFL seasons. Trubisky, now Allen’s backup in Buffalo, has 60 NFL starts but hasn’t been a regular first-team player since 2020. Howell has 18 NFL starts but is now third on Philadelphia’s QB depth chart.
How far can Maye take his already amazing story? That will be fun to watch, as UNC finally has produced a player at least potentially capable of joining some of the other great QBs who came through North Carolina’s college ranks.
The best professional quarterback Duke has ever produced is Sonny Jurgensen, who played 18 seasons in the National Football League, made five Pro Bowls and earned four All-Pro honors on his way to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The best professional quarterback East Carolina has ever produced is Jeff Blake, who played 13 NFL seasons, including eight as a starter.
The best professional quarterback NC State has ever produced is Philip Rivers, who played 17 NFL seasons, including 15 as a starter.
Maye, of course, is not even two full seasons into his professional career, so his long-term projections remain highly speculative.
His 2025 campaign, though, has been truly sensational. If it ends with the MVP award, Maye already would have one prestigious honor that even long-time NFL standouts such as Jurgensen, Blake and Rivers never were able to claim.
David Glenn (DavidGlennShow.com, @DavidGlennShow) is an award-winning author, broadcaster, editor, entrepreneur, publisher, speaker, writer and university lecturer (now at UNC Wilmington) who has covered sports in North Carolina since 1987.
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