Drake Maye is headed to the Super Bowl. Just his second year in the league, and already the 23-year-old quarterback is preparing to play on the NFL’s biggest stage. It's a meteoric rise by any measure-but for some, it’s a moment that’s been over a decade in the making.
Back in August 2012, on a sweltering summer day in North Carolina, a man named Justin Farkas watched a youth football game and sent out a tweet that’s now aging like a fine wine. He wasn’t trying to go viral.
He wasn’t making a bold prediction. He was just reacting to what he saw: a nine-year-old kid named Drake Maye playing up a league and still dominating everyone on the field.
“Holy crap Drake Maye is the best athlete I've ever seen. Playing up a league and still the best in the league,” Farkas tweeted.
At the time, it might’ve seemed like hyperbole. Now? It reads more like a scouting report from the future.
Farkas grew up around the Maye family in the Charlotte area and remembers seeing them often at local sporting events. One particular game stuck with him-not because Drake looked like a future NFL quarterback, but because he didn’t. At least not physically.
“I remember Drake being at least a foot shorter than everyone else out there,” Farkas recalled. “He definitely did not have the same growth spurt yet that all of his brothers had had in their early teens. If you just looked at him, size-wise, compared to everyone else, you would have expected him to get tossed around, but he was actually the one tossing people around, knocking them over, running circles around them.”
Back then, Maye wasn’t even under center. He was a running back-smaller than the other kids, but tougher, faster, and smarter. He was outplaying kids two or three years older, and doing it with a confidence and command that’s now showing up on the biggest stages of pro football.
Fast forward to today, and Maye’s mobility is still a weapon. During New England’s playoff run, he’s made critical plays with his legs-scrambling for first downs, extending drives, and closing out tight games.
It’s not just about raw athleticism; it’s instincts, poise, and timing. The same traits that stood out to Farkas on that youth football field are now turning heads in the NFL.
Of course, Drake isn’t the only athlete in the Maye family. His older brother Luke was a standout at North Carolina, earning All-American honors and helping lead the Tar Heels to a national championship.
Luke went on to play professionally in Europe, but back then, it was easy to focus on the older brothers. Drake was the youngest-quietly building his own legacy, one unassuming performance at a time.
What set the Maye brothers apart wasn’t just talent-it was consistency. Preparation.
Effort. Farkas credits their parents for instilling that foundation early.
That combination of natural ability and relentless work ethic? That’s what separates the good from the great.
Now, more than a decade later, Farkas’ tweet is everywhere. It’s being compared to other early “called it” moments in sports social media, like the famous 2013 post that pegged sixth-grader Paige Bueckers as a future basketball star.
But this isn’t about internet clout. It’s about proximity-being close enough to see greatness before the rest of the world catches on.
“It’s been quite a whirlwind, albeit a fun one,” Farkas said of the recent attention.
Next up, Maye and the New England Patriots will take on the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl LX. And you can bet that tweet will resurface again.
Because when you spot greatness early-and you’re right-it never really fades. It just keeps echoing louder as the spotlight grows.