Patriots C Garrett Bradbury reveals interesting Drake Maye connection that led him to New England
FOXBOROUGH, Mass – The Patriots had some help luring center Garrett Bradbury to New England after his release from the Vikings. And it all centered around quarterback Drake Maye. When speaking with reporters on Thursday for the first time since he signed, Bradbury revealed that his brother-in-law and Maye's older brother player college baseball together and have […]
FOXBOROUGH, Mass – The Patriots had some help luring center Garrett Bradbury to New England after his release from the Vikings.
And it all centered around quarterback Drake Maye.
When speaking with reporters on Thursday for the first time since he signed, Bradbury revealed that his brother-in-law and Maye's older brother player college baseball together and have remained close friends.
“I love Drake so far. It’s kind of a weird family connection,” Bradbury said. “My brother-in-law’s a baseball player and played with his brother Cole at Florida and their best friends. So, I was going through the free agency process, they were all like ‘New England, New England, New England.’ So got to know him a little bit.”
And now he will the opportunity to create a connection with Maye as his center this season.
Despite only being a few days into the voluntary offseason program, the two have already had the opportunity to compete in some "competitive ping pong" games, and the expectations is there will be plenty more in the future. Plus, he is expecting to play golf with him too this spring.
"All I can based it off of is guys that have played with him and I've heard nothing but good things from the guys," Bradbury said when asked about what he knows about Maye's play style. "That's what I'm looking forward to."
The two also seem to have similar taste in schools… to an extent. Both attended college in North Carolina, but, there is a big rivalry as Bradbury went to N.C. State, while Maye attended Chapel Hill.
All of this will help them establish a connection which is vital between a center and a quarterback. That will make things easier as they will share responsibilities at the line of scrimmage.
“I think it’s a combination. I think Drake will have a lot, but I think Drake’s ready for that,” Bradbury said. “They wouldn’t put a lot on his plate if they didn’t have belief in him. And I think he’s a really smart young player, and it will only help him grow. I think sometimes you can just try and take a bunch off a quarterback’s plate, and it’s like, ‘Sure, let’s make it simple for him.’ But I think the more it’s on his plate, and the more that he can understand the bigger picture, he can understand what everyone’s doing and get everyone in the right place.
“So there’ll be certain times where, like, we all want to work together, right? But that’s an important position. You got to have that position figured out. And from everything I’ve heard, they do here, so I’m excited to get to work with him.”
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