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Drake Maye on playing his hometown Panthers for the first time: ‘It’s different playing up here’
"A lot of great memories in that stadium back at Bank of America."
Before he would follow in Cam Newton’s footsteps as a Patriots quarterback, Drake Maye grew up watching the former league MVP play for his hometown Carolina Panthers.
Maye, who grew up just north of Charlotte in Huntersville N.C., recalled what he felt like watching Newton lead the Panthers to Super Bowl 50. Maye, who was 12 at the time, was there watching as the Panthers fell 24-10 to the Broncos.
“I went to the Super Bowl when they lost to Peyton Manning, and that was tough,” Maye said. “But yeah, just that season. I think they were 15-1. I was at that NFC Championship game at home, big time win. Just being a fan of Cam [Newton] was probably the biggest memory, him coming out here, doing the airplane and hitting ‘The Cam.’”
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“So, just little things like that, and getting to know him later on and playing him. He coached the 7-on-7 team and playing against him and seeing stuff like that. So, just getting to know some of the players around has been pretty cool.”
On Sunday, the Patriots will host the Panthers at Gillette Stadium. With the Panthers traveling to Foxborough, it won’t exactly be a homecoming for Maye.
“It’s different playing up here,” Maye said. “Going back to Charlotte would have been different, but going against the team that I grew up watching, grew up cheering for. A lot of great memories in that stadium back at Bank of America.”
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“So yeah, it’s a little different, but at the same time, it’s still just another week. Another week in the NFL, and none of the same players that I grew up rooting for besides the long snapper are still there.”
It will, however, be an opportunity to steer the Patriots back to .500. New England (1-2) is coming off of a turnover-riddled home loss to the Steelers. The Patriots turned the ball over five times. Maye had a fumble and an interception.
“Not beating ourselves. That’s the big thing,” Maye said. “Shoot, it’s turnovers. Turnovers in this league are such a big deal. It’s one of those things that we can clean up.
“Holding onto the football, me holding on in the pocket and the running backs is something that I do think is fixable. It’s something that you try to overemphasize, and usually when you overemphasize things, you fix it.”
The Patriots and Panthers have split the all-time series 4-4, with the most recent meeting being a 24-6 Patriots win in 2021.
It will be Maye’s first time playing against the franchise he grew up rooting for.
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