CHAPEL HILL – The residual effect of the swell of attention given to Drake Maye has been a boon to the North Carolina football program.
Even with a rather pedestrian performance, for his standards, in the Tar Heels’ upset loss to Georgia Tech this past Saturday, Maye is still in the Heisman Trophy picture and could end up receiving an invitation to New York City for the award presentation.
Whether or not he does, the program has still gained immeasurably from the hype around his season and high-end potential. Drake Maye generating gobs of national attention is outstanding for Mack Brown’s and Carolina football.
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“Drake has given our program and the University of North Carolina more publicity in the last 10-11 weeks than you can buy,” UNC Coach Mack Brown said during his weekly press conference Monday at the Kenan Football Center.
“It’s unbelievable how much attention; he’s being interviewed on (ESPN) Gameday and SportsCenter. You can’t pay for that stuff. It’s too expensive. Just look at those advertisements at the Super Bowl.”
Based on collective research, if ESPN charges $85,000 for a 30-second commercial during peak periods, such as when SportsCenter airs or GameDay, imagine what a three-minute interview is worth. What about a simple mention by Kirk Herbstreit?
Then there is ESPN Radio, ESPNU Radio, the many other national sports radio networks, the attention via the ACC Network, plus online websites like ESPN, CBS Sports, and so many others. In addition, the value of debate over Maye’s Heisman worthiness via social media must be factored, too.
Maye has been featured pretty much everywhere on TV, online, and radio over the last two months. Even the value of 2011 Heisman winner Robert Griffin III regularly tweeting about Maye complete with video clips of him hyping the Carolina QB carries incredible weight because of Griffin’s success and how he delivers his message.
Among the national leaders in every positive quarterback statistic, Maye is blazing a trail never before seen at UNC. In the eyes of many, he has already surpassed Sam Howell, Carolina’s quarterback the previous three seasons, as the best at his position in school history.
In just 10 starts for his career, Maye has completed 68.8 percent of his pass attempts for 3,614 yards, 34 touchdowns and just four interceptions. He also leads the Tar Heels in rushing with 597 yards, which includes factoring 32 sacks losing 163 yards. The 6-foot-5 redshirt freshman has five rushing scores, too.
The impact of Carolina’s 9-2 season and ACC Coastal Division championship and riding Maye’s attention has even resonated on the recruiting trail. Several highly touted prospects that moved on from UNC in the summer, have called the program back over the last month expressing renewed interest.
Few college football people knew who Maye was this past August, now he’s a household name in the spot.
“He has done so much for our program and our university,” Brown said. “And coming right off of Sam, it’s unusual to have two of the greatest quarterbacks in your school history back-to-back.
“Both of them young, both of them from Charlotte, both of them are classy, they’re smart, they handle things well. And I couldn’t be prouder of both of them.”
And to think that Maye still has three more games this season, and could very well go into the 2023 campaign as the Heisman frontrunner means constant attention all offseason, particularly when the build-up to the season begins heating up in late June.
Assessing Maye’s value to North Carolina Football is a gargantuan task and too difficult to nail down, but be assured the program and school are reaping a significant benefit.
