One of the better parts of the NFL’s Pro Bowl has become the fact that it’s more about the players having a good time and making it entertaining, with fans getting to see the lighter side of things from their favorite players.
Last night, the league held its skills challenge with various positions, with the one for the quarterbacks being the one fans in New England were keeping an eye on after Drake Maye was recently added to the Pro Bowl roster.
Maye was out there with Jared Goff, Russell Wilson, Sam Darnold, Baker Mayfield and Joe Burrow Thursday night during the quarterback challenge, although he ended up being the one who came up a little short.
The challenge included having to hit various targets, with each one worth anywhere between one to five points. The other tough part was the fact this was held indoors, with scaffolding hanging down and forcing guys to really have to drive the ball as the targets were located right behind it.
Burrow started things off by putting up 27 points, but one caveat was each quarterback’s time was determined by their score in a trivia challenge prior to the passing contest, which also came into play. Goff benefited the most from that after Burrow had a minute, but Goff had 1:30 and the Lions quarterback ended up leading everyone by tallying 44 points.
Maye, who was on Peyton Manning’s team with the AFC, went third, and he had 1:20. He hit his first three throws, hitting the “2” deep down the middle, followed by the “1” to the far left, and the “2” to the right. But things started to get a little tough from there, although Maye did hit a few in-between while throwing out a few, “Gol-ly!” moments as some throws weren’t quite where he wanted them to be.
Overall, Maye finished with the lowest score among the group, which was 22. But despite that, he seemed to be having a good time.
The best part was, as Maye walked off, he was greeted by some of the guys, getting a hug from former tight end Jonnu Smith, along with having a funny exchange with Green Bay’s Josh Jacobs and giving a quick shoulder tap to Burrow as he got set to watch the rest of the guys compete.
Here’s how it finished:
Jared Goff: 44 points
Sam Darnold: 39 points
Russell Wilson: 31 points
Joe Burrow: 27 points
Baker Mayfield: 27 points
Drake Maye: 22 points
While the skill challenge and the game itself are meaningless, Maye’s presence at the Pro Bowl is huge, especially ahead of free agency. Seeing his interactions with the guys as he walked off was a reminder of how important this type of networking is.
This week could very well sway someone who didn’t know him, to instead being told by one of the guys on hand positive things about the type of person Maye is. Given how he appeared to be getting on and smiling with the guys, it already feels like he made a pretty good impression among them ahead of next month.
That might help alleviate any doubts a player might have about signing here, which is where the focus will soon shift once the league’s final game is played.
Then the page truly turns, and the real work begins for the New England Patriots front office. Hopefully, the relationships he’s building this week potentially help Maye have some better guys around him this fall.
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
