Drake Maye doesn’t take bait after drama with Cam Newton, Smith

New England Patriots

“I’m just worried about what people in our building, in our organization.”

Drake Maye and the Patriots already have their hands full when it comes to weathering a string of major injuries and finishing strong before a long-awaited bye week after next Monday’s primetime matchup against the Giants.

But, the second-year QB found himself embroiled in a media feud last week after his scheduled call-in interview with WEEI last week. 

Last Monday, Maye was asked about former Panthers and Patriots QB Cam Newton’s comments on ESPN’s “First Take”, with the former NFL MVP labeling New England as “fool’s gold” when it came to the team’s label as a viable contender in a wide-open AFC. 

“I don’t even know what show he’s on,” Maye said of Newton. “I think they get paid to make remarks and make certain comments.”

“I’m just worried about what people in our organization think, and worry about (what) we think and what my teammates think. People are going to have different opinions. I’m just going out there on Sunday and worrying about ourselves.”

Maye’s seemingly offhand comment about not knowing which show Newton was on drew derision from Newton’s fellow “First Take’ pundit, Stephen A. Smith. 

“He’s also a liar. First of all, let me tell you. Not to brag. Listen,” Smith said of Maye on Thursday. “Pardon the Interruption is the No. 1 show on ESPN spanning twenty-plus [years]. First Take is the No. 1 morning show 13 years and counting, April will be 14 years.”

“Don’t tell me you’re an athlete and you don’t know that,” Smith continued. “Don’t tell me that you’re an athlete and you don’t know that Cam Newton is on this show. You’re lying.”

Speaking on “WEEI Afternoons” on Monday, Maye opted to take the high road when asked about Smith’s harsh comments last week. 

“I think, like I said, I’m just worried about what people in our building, in our organization — people that I hold a lot personal relationships with, on their opinions and value that. So, all that outside stuff, it is what it is,” Maye said of Smith’s comments. “Just got to be careful what I say. Didn’t try to mean it disrespectfully.”

While Maye opted to brush aside Smith’s comments, his coach, Mike Vrabel, didn’t exactly evade a similar question during his interview on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show” earlier Monday morning. 

“Is it? I find that hard to believe,” Vrabel joked when he was reminded of Smith’s comments about “First Take” being the top-rated show of its kind. “It’s not the SportsCenter that I grew up with.”

Speaking on his Sirius XM Show on Friday, Smith walked back some of his comments about Maye — saying that he was only “being facetious.” 

“I was being facetious because it wasn’t that big of a deal,” Smith said. “In other words, Cam Newton is on national television. And your reaction was, ‘I don’t even know where he works.’ I just didn’t believe that. That’s all.

“I wasn’t calling him a liar about anything else. Just that he didn’t know where Cam works. But you are right, I don’t know Drake Maye, I’ve never spoken to him. Again, I was being facetious. I wasn’t being serious about that point.”

 

Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.