Why everyone — even Jets fans — loves Drake Maye’s wife, Ann Michael: ‘She seems like a 100-percent normal woman’
She’s the WAG next door.
Ann Michael Maye — the wife of Patriots QB Drake Maye — is scoring major points with fans with her down-to-earth charm and viral baking videos.
The 23-year-old has garnered more than 440,000 followers on TikTok and 323,000 on Instagram sharing recipes for s’mores cookie bars and cheddar jalapeno sourdough, along with her needlepoint projects and love of mahjong.
“[She’s the] Queen of the North. Everyone loves her. She’s our girl,” Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy, a self-described Pats “super fan,” told The Post.
Ann Michael Maye — the wife of Patriots QB Drake Maye — is winning with fans for her down-to-earth charm and viral baking videos. Getty Images
When asked what she’s like in real life, Portnoy told The Post she’s far from the cliche fame-chasing, glammed up WAG dripping in designer clothes that we’ve come to expect on the sidelines.
“She is exactly how she seems. Very nice, very sweet,” Portnoy said. “She seems like a 100-percent normal woman.”
The Patriots are heading to the AFC Championship Sunday for the first time in seven years, facing off against the Denver Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High.
Ann Michael even baked the Pats game day cookies (decked in blue and red M&Ms) for their flight Friday, Boston sports radio host Mike Riley shared on X Friday.
Ann Michael showed up to the Patriots’ last game against the Houston Texans in an “I ❤️ Drake Maye” shirt. @nfl/Instagram
“She’s exactly how she seems. Very nice, very sweet,” Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy told The Post. Getty Images
It’s the biggest game of Drake’s career yet.
The 23-year-old led the team in a 28-16 victory over the Houston Texans in the AFC Divisional Game on Jan. 18 at Gillette Stadium where wife Ann Michael commanded the spotlight in a viral “I heart Drake Maye sweatshirt” paired with a faux fur coat.
If Drake leads the team to a record seventh Super Bowl win in February — and the first since Tom Brady departed in 2020 — it would be a cinematic ending to a banner year for the young couple.
The Patriots are heading to the AFC Championship Sunday for the first time in seven years, facing off against the Denver Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High. It’s the biggest game of Drake’s career yet. Getty Images
“[She’s the] Queen of the North. Everyone loves her. She’s our girl,” Portnoy, a self-described Pats “super fan,” told The Post of the fanfare around Ann Michael. Boston Globe via Getty Images
The pair got married this past June at the Grandfather Golf and Country Club in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina. Ann Michael looked stunning in a simple, strapless gown, and Drake gushed over their photos on Instagram.
“What a night! Cheers to forever. I love you!” he wrote.
Their romance dates back to middle school. The two met at the the tender age of 12 in Huntersville, NC, and began dating soon after.
Both attended UNC Chapel Hill, where, in 2022, Drake was the ACC Player of the Year and the fifth quarterback in conference history to have over 5,000 yards of total offense in a single season.
As her husband’s star has risen, so has Ann Michael’s. She loves making treats for him and his teammates and has gone viral sharing her baking in refreshingly low-key videos that come across as genuine, not fame hungry. @nfl/Instagram
Drake left college a year early for the draft, where he was a first round pick for the Patriots.
Ann Michael was a business major and an active member of the Kappa Delta sorority, according to her LinkedIn page.
“They were both very well liked and respected,” a former UNC classmate told The Post. “They are both incredibly humble and grounded.”
As her husband’s star has risen, so has Ann Michael’s. She loves making treats for him and his teammates and has gone viral sharing her baking in refreshingly low-key videos that come across as genuine, not fame hungry.
Ann Michael appeared with Dave Portnoy at Gianni’s Deli and Pizza in Needham, Mass. earlier this month to do a One Bite pizza review. @barstoolsports/X
“There’s so many things going on with WAGs and influencers. They are trying to go viral, they are using filters,” Portnoy said. “I think everyone at the Pats thinks they hit the jackpot with the two of them. She’s just so likable.”
Fans have eaten up the homey content.
One video, where she appears sans makeup in her kitchen slicing into a jalapeno cheddar sourdough loaf, raked in 2.2 million views on TikTok.
Another, for Oreo truffle balls, yielded 1.1 million views.
Drake and Ann Michael got married this past June at the Grandfather Golf and Country Club in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina. annmichaelhmaye/Instagram
Her social media success prompted a holiday “bakemas” baking series in which she whipped up a different treat — think peppermint chocolate chip cookie, chocolate peanut butter bars and snickerdoodle cinnamon roll cookies — for 25 days leading up to Christmas Day.
“The homestyle cooking and baking that she was doing resonated with a lot of people, not everything was perfect. It showed that, hey, she’s just like us,” said Tab Volpe, an executive pastry chef for the Himmel Hospitality Group in Boston and huge Patriots fan.
“There’s a better connection that she has with the fans than, say, a Gisele or a Taylor Swift.”
Portnoy agrees.
Drake and Ann Michael Maye’s dynamic is “such a radical difference from Brady and Gisele,” Portnoy told The Post. “It’s a nice refreshing change of pace.” Getty Images
“It is such a radical difference from Brady and Gisele,” Portnoy said. “It’s a nice refreshing change of pace.”
But, Ann Michael is so nice, she’s resisted the easy comparisons with the famously health-obsessed Gisele.
“It’s always, ‘Gisele could never this, Gisele would never that,’ ” she’s said of the comments she’s received. “I’m like, ‘Gisele is pretty — she’s been pretty good, guys.’ ”
Ann Michael’s 25-day viral “Bakemas” series was such a hit that NBC Sports Boston gave her her own Dunkin-sponsored show, “Beyond Bakemas With Ann Michael Maye.” snfonnbc/Instagram
Ann Michael has garnered comments from fans comparing her to former Pats first lady Bundchen. “It’s always, ‘Gisele could never this, Gisele would never that,’” she’s said of the comments she’s received. “I’m like, ‘Gisele is pretty — she’s been pretty good, guys.’” @nfl/Instagram
NBC Sports Boston gave her her own Dunkin-sponsored YouTube show this month, “Beyond Bakemas with Ann Michael Maye.”
In it, she recruits athletes to roll up their sleeves in the kitchen. In her last episode, which raked in 137,000 views, she dished with former Pats center David Andrews, 33, while preparing Apple Cinnamon Oatbars.
“The O-line is like the main recipient for my baked goods. Occasionally they’ll write me a thank you note. It’s so funny, it’s like, ‘just keep feeding us. We need to protect your husband so we need to keep on the extra weight. If you need a bodyguard we’ll be your bodyguard,’ ” she told Andrews.
Portnoy was the first guest on her “Beyond Bakemas” series, and he recently enlisted Ann Michael’s taste-testing skills for a pizza review in Needham, Mass.
Even when the camera stopped rolling, Portnoy noticed her chill vibe remained. He recalled that she stuck around for 20 minutes after the interview to try the owner’s chicken parm sandwich.
Drake and Ann Michael’s romance dates back to middle school. The two met at the the tender age of 12 in Huntersville, North Carolina, and began dating soon after. annmichaelhmaye/Instagram
“They were both very well liked and respected,” a former UNC classmate told The Post. “They are both incredibly humble and grounded.” annmichaelhmaye/Instagram
“He said that no other famous guest would do that,” Portnoy recalled to The Post.
“She was like, ‘No, I will wait.’ She just hung out.”
Even Jets fans can’t get enough of the couple – and Ann Michael’s charismatic content.
Jack McGuire, a content creator for Barstool Sports and a die-hard Jets fan, admitted the Mayes are “just perfect.”
Even Jets fans can’t get enough of the couple – and Ann Michael’s charismatic content. Jack McGuire, a content creator for Barstool Sports die-hard Jets fan, admitted the the Mayes are “just perfect.” Getty Images
The content has been a welcome respite from the New York sports fan’s reality that “the Jets are never going to make the playoffs . . . ever,” he quipped in a recent video.
While Drake is nearing one of the important games of his career, he couldn’t appear more grounded — cheering on Ann Michael as her biggest fan.
He has repeatedly talked her up in interviews, sharing relatable details of their life together.
“She started playing mahjong, I haven’t gotten into that. But [sometimes we play] Battleship or cards … We picked up tennis a little bit in the offseason,” Drake said in a press conference on Wednesday, Jan. 21, praising Ann Michael.
“We’ll try anything we can compete in. She’s a great athlete.”
