After the team's 29-13 loss to the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl LX, the quarterback credited the first-year Patriots head coach for his impact on the team
Kathryn Riley/Getty; Kevin C. Cox/Getty
NEED TO KNOW
- Drake Maye got emotional, holding back tears while delivering remarks after Super Bowl LX
- The New England Patriots quarterback credited Mike Vrabel for being the “heartbeat” of the team after their loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Feb. 8
- In his first year as head coach of the Patriots, Vrabel won NFL coach of the year honors last week
Drake Maye is standing by his coach Mike Vrabel.
The second-year quarterback credited the first-year head coach of the New England Patriots — who won NFL coach of the year on Feb. 5 — following the team’s 29-13 loss to the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl LX on Sunday, Feb. 8.
“He was the heartbeat, no doubt about that,” Maye, 23, said as his voice wavered at the postgame presser. “He was a big reason why we’re here. He’s always the same and I look forward to my relationship with him for a long time.”
He added, “He’s a great person and a hell of a football coach.”
Maye and the Patriots struggled to get going for most of the game, stifled by the Seahawks’ defense.
The signal-caller finished with a 27-of-43 line for 295 passing yards and two touchdowns, but most of those stats came in the fourth quarter when the game was already out of reach.
Dustin Bradford/Icon Sportswire via Getty
Maye also praised his team while speaking to reporters after the game. He became choked up at several points in the post-game presser.
“It hurts no doubt, definitely hurts. It’s been a long ride but they played better than us tonight and they deserved to win that game," Maye said. "Speaking for the whole team and myself, just what a journey it’s been for us. I love this team, all those guys in the locker room and we left it all on the field and I know a lot of guys did that tonight, but we just came up short we didn’t play our best and that’s what happens.”
At another point, he told reporters, "This team was awesome. I'm so proud. That's probably the reason I'm choked up most. This team is something that I'm just glad to be a part of," per CBS News.
On Feb. 5 in San Francisco, Vrabel, 50, received the COTY nod at the NFL Honors, where he was lauded for 10-win turnaround of the franchise following consecutive 4-13 seasons.
Vrabel’s equal parts intensity and affection toward his players rubbed off on the team this year — from the beginning of the season when he showed he would go to bat for any of them.
Last August on the eve of the season’s start, during a practice scrimmage against the Washington Commanders, the coach jumped into the fray to break up a skirmish between players.
"That's what we're trying to build, and it starts with the head coach intensity, bringing it every day, taking no crap when we're out there on the field," Maye told reporters at the time. "The mentality, I like it. That's what you want."
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Had the Patriots won, the retired linebacker would have become the first person ever to win a Super Bowl as a player and as a coach for the same franchise.
For Maye — who received a painkilling shot in his right shoulder before the game — his time in the spotlight on the sport’s biggest stage was not a memorable one.
“I’d like to go back to the beginning and redo it,” the North Carolina standout told reporters.
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