Drake Maye Puts Twist On Game Ball Tradition After Patriots Win Over

Bonisiwe Shabane

-Nov 17, 2025, 2:08 PM

drake maye puts twist on game ball tradition after patriots win over

A Patriots player getting a game ball spans decades. But Drake Maye decided to put a twist on the tradition on Sunday. After New England’s 31-13 win over the Tennessee Titans, coach Mike Vrabel entered the locker room to give a speech to his team. As he was about to exit, Maye stepped in and gave his coach the game ball. “Coach Vrabel, we love playing for you,” the quarterback said in a video shared by the Patriots. “Glad you’re our head coach.

We love you, coach.” It was an emotional win for Vrabel, who returned to Tennessee for the first time since being fired by the Titans in 2024. “Vra-bel!” chants filled Nissan Stadium at one point. “I didn’t get that many tickets,” Vrabel said after the game. “I don’t know. But that’s neither here nor there.

I’m happy for our players. I think these guys, they’re figuring out how to win. They’re figuring out how to practice. I guess it’s humbling to have these people want to — whoever that is — cheer for us. Whether that’s the Patriots, or Drake Maye, or me, or anybody else.” Sunday's win in Tennessee was an important one for the Patriots.

Not only did the 31-13 victory see New England maintain its first-place lead in the AFC East—and Drake Maye breaking franchise records once held by Tom Brady—but it also allowed coach Mike Vrabel to... That's why, in the locker room after the win, the coach was awarded a game ball by his franchise quarterback while trying to break the team down. "One sec, one sec," Maye jumped in as Vrabel walked away from the huddle. "For coach and all Tennessee coaches. Coach Vrabel, we love playing for you. Glad you're our head coach.

We love you, coach." Check out the awesome moment here, at about the 0:35 second mark in the below video: After struggling mightily in the deep passing game over the last few seasons, the Patriots and quarterback Drake Maye rank third in the NFL in explosive pass percentage in 2025. Kenneth Richmond / Getty Images FOXBORO, Mass. — During those backyard games that still stick out vividly for Drake Maye, he was rarely the quarterback.

One drawback to being the youngest of four boys is that the older brothers got to pick the fun positions. So Maye was usually a wide receiver. “They wouldn’t let me play quarterback,” Maye said with a smile. So Maye didn’t get the rush of hitting a deep pass until later on. As the spotlight on Maye grew and the recruiting stars came, attendance swelled at Myers Park High in Charlotte, N.C., when Maye played. And even as Maye has developed into a terrific NFL quarterback in his second season with the New England Patriots, he still thinks back to that feeling he first experienced on high school fields,...

The way a stadium falls quiet for just a split second when the quarterback heaves the ball deep downfield. The nervous energy of waiting to see if it’ll be caught. The New England Patriots went out on Sunday and gave it their all, doing what they could to secure a tough divisional win over the Miami Dolphins. And that they did. But Drake Maye helped make the moment extra special for one very important member of the Patriots organization. After taking the knee on the final play of the game, Maye rushed right over to the team’s equipment manager, making sure that the ball was kept safe so it could be given to...

Maye wanted to make sure he got the game ball from his first win as head coach of the Patriots. “I took that football out, the one I (took a knee) there and gave it right Stick our equipment guy, and let coach get that ball,” Maye said. “Said that means a lot and I think it means a lot to him. So it took everybody, but he’s leading the charge and that meant something to do that.” Robert Kraft then handed him the game ball in the locker room, earning a huge cheer from the staff. And he also handed out some game balls to the players who impacted Sunday's game in a huge way.

The New England Patriots’ postgame locker room was filled with emotion on Sunday as rookie quarterback Drake Maye surprised head coach Mike Vrabel with the game ball following a dominant win over the Tennessee... [Video link (the original post has since been deleted/private)]. Vrabel brought his new Patriots back to the stadium where he once coached, just six days after the 1-6 Titans fired head coach Brian Callahan. It was a memorable game thanks to his players. During his tenure with the Titans, Vrabel won NFL Coach of the Year and guided the team to consistent postseason trips. He downplayed the game’s emotional significance in public..

But his players clearly understood what this matchup meant. The Patriots’ offense hummed with rhythm and balance, and their defense never allowed Tennessee to find any momentum. But the defining moment came after the game. As Vrabel addressed his team in the locker room, praising their effort and reminding them that “there’s so much better football to be played,” Maye interrupted this time to honor his coach. Handing over the game ball, Maye told Vrabel: The Patriots are rolling as winners of seven straight games following another impressive road victory in Tampa Bay on Sunday.

For all the talk about the easy schedule, QB Drake Maye just went through a three-week slate where he faced three top-15 pass defenses in EPA: the Browns (15th), Falcons (11th), and Bucs (6th). Offensively, at least, this wasn't an easy stretch. Maye came out of the mini-gauntlet with the following stat line: 63.1% completion rate, 270.3 pass YPG, 7-3 TD to INT ratio, +0.06 EPA per play. And, of course, the most important stat is three wins — not too shabby. As for the Bucs game, my fear was that we might see one-and-run Maye with the Bucs pressure speeding up the second-year quarterback. Maye entered the game with the second-most sacks (34) and the third-highest sack rate (10.7%) among qualified quarterbacks.

Given that Tampa's defense was top-10 in every meaningful pass-rush metric, it was valid to be concerned about Maye either taking sacks or not allowing plays to develop by hitting the eject button from... Instead, Maye keeps passing checkpoints with mostly sound decision-making of when to stay or leave the pocket, while throwing haymakers at an aggressive Bucs defense in the form of big plays. Despite being under pressure on 44.4% of his drop-backs, Maye was only sacked once, a 1-yard sack at that, while hitting four completions for 167 yards and a touchdown while under pressure — Maye... The other half of the Patriots offensive letterhead that deserves his flowers is OC Josh McDaniels. McDaniels's willingness to stick with the run game even though it was looking bleak at times paid huge dividends in the second half. Even yours truly got impatient watching live as RB TreVeyon Henderson was stuffed on a toss, only for the rookie to explode for a 69-yard TD to essentially put this one away.

That's why we're fans/scribes and McDaniels has the play-sheet on the sideline. Drake Maye threw two touchdown passes and had two incompletions in Sunday afternoon’s win over the Titans. It’s tough to be more efficient than Maye was, and in fact, no quarterback in Patriots history had been. In a 31-13 victory, Maye went 21-of-23 for 222 yards, setting a new franchise record for completion percentage at 91.3%. Tom Brady’s highest mark was 88.5% in a 2009 win over the Jaguars. After the win, Maye was asked how it felt etch his name in New England’s record book.

“I left some out there,” Maye said. "I ended up running that I could have thrown. I tucked it a couple times when I shouldn’t have. I need to get to the back side of the progression more. I’m trying to be careful with the football and trying to challenge it down the field and not just be a ‘Checkdown Charlie.’ So just trying to throw it to the guys that are... CLEVELAND, Ohio — In football, few plays generate more excitement than a perfectly thrown deep ball.

That distinctive sound of thousands of fans simultaneously inhaling—a collective gasp of anticipation—signals something special is happening. For Patriots quarterback Drake Maye, that sound has been the soundtrack to some of his favorite football memories, and on Wednesday, he opened up about what makes the deep ball such a unique and... The rookie signal-caller took us back to his earliest memories of throwing deep, revealing a journey that began long before NFL stadiums and professional defenses. “Probably in the backyards of my brothers before anything throwing a deep [ball],” Maye reflected, before adding that his role wasn’t always as the quarterback. “I was a receiver for the longest because I was the youngest. They wouldn’t let me play quarterback.”

Drake Maye Puts Twist On Game Ball Tradition After Patriots Win Over

People Also Search

A Patriots Player Getting A Game Ball Spans Decades. But

We Love You, Coach.” It Was An Emotional Win For

I’m Happy For Our Players. I Think These Guys, They’re

Not Only Did The 31-13 Victory See New England Maintain

We Love You, Coach." Check Out The Awesome Moment Here,