The New England Patriots inducted Tom Brady into their Hall of Fame on Wednesday. The ceremony was nothing short of spectacular, with a sold out crowd, hundreds of legends in attendance, and plenty of nostalgia for Patriots fans everywhere. Obviously, it was an incredible night to be a New Englander, but there was something else that could get fans excited for the future as well. Rookie quarterback, Drake Maye, was in attendance for the whole ceremony and what an incredible event for him to witness. What could he have learned from such a night, and how could it have a lasting impact on him?
The love that was shown for the King of New England in Gillette Stadium was electric. There were tears, standing ovations, and a real showing of what it means to be loved by the Patriots fan base. Brady wasn’t the only one who received cheers. Randy Moss got a standing ovation that even brought him to tears. With a young player like Maye witnessing all of this, it gives him a peek into how passionate the New England area is about their sports. This ceremony was the perfect event for a rookie quarterback to see. It shows him what true greatness is, not only in Foxborough, but in the entire NFL world. It shows him that this fanbase will go to war for him as long as he does the same for them.
Tom Brady’s speech also should be something that stuck with Maye. Brady discusses the difficulties of football, as well as the importance of the team over himself. He talks about how without the team, there wouldn’t be six banners flying in Gillette Stadium. This is incredibly important, especially in today’s NFL. By truly listening to this speech, Maye should be able to see the importance of leadership, and getting your team to go to battle for you each and every week. With the Patriots being in a rebuild, they desperately need a field general to take control and become the leader that has been missing for the past few seasons. With Maye seeing the true greatness of the Patriots franchise on full display, it gave him the opportunity to see the importance of this team in the entire New England area.
Could the future of the Patriots be hugely impacted by this ceremony?
Drake Maye wasn’t the only Patriots rookie in attendance on Wednesday. If this rookie class truly payed attention to everything that was going on around them, it could have a huge impact on the future. By seeing players other than Brady, like Randy Moss, Julian Edelman, and Rob Gronkowski get huge standing ovations with the crowd chanting their name, these rookies see what New England royalty is. If they use this as motivation, and a way to envision themselves as the next generation of all time greats, we could see some serious improvements of the 4-13 record. Now that they have witnessed the passion of the Foxborough Faithful, they know how important they are to the six states that make up New England.