Ann-Michael Maye, wife of New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye, became a breakout star in her own right during the team’s surprising run to the Super Bowl last season — but she admits it didn’t come without some bumps in the road.
“Moving to somewhere so completely different, being away from all of our friends and family is probably the most challenging part,” Ann-Michael, 23, exclusively tells Us via her partnership with CarGurus. “Luckily, we have great teammates and great friends here that have really made the New England area feel like home, which is great.”
She continues, “But you know, we’re both from North Carolina. Our parents live in the same neighborhood, and then we went to college in North Carolina, so we were never too far from family. That’s been the biggest adjustment.”
Despite the distance, Ann-Michael insists “there’s nothing to complain about,” even if she sometimes feels like she’s living in a different universe from some of her friends.
“I joke with my friends from college all the time. They’re like, ‘Ann-Michael, we are living the most opposite lives right now,’” she says. “My friends are just living in these cities, crammed in apartments with, like, five girls, going to their 9-to-5 corporate jobs every day and they’re so far away from getting married and all these things.”
She adds, “They think I’m, like, 30 or something. I just turned 23. They’re like, ‘You’re living a life 10 years in advance of us.’”
Ann-Michael and Drake, 23, got married in June 2025, just seven months before Drake helped lead the Patriots to the AFC title. Along the way, Ann-Michael formed special bonds with the other wives and girlfriends of players on the team.
“It just makes it feel so much more like home and makes it feel less like we’re so far away from our families and stuff,” she says. “It’s made it so fun and it’s really cool that he is obviously friends with all of his teammates, and I’ve become friends with the wives. It’s one big community where we can all spend time together.”
Ann-Michael continues, “We’re all experiencing the same things, living the same sort of life, which I think is sometimes so different from other fields of work and other people don’t necessarily understand exactly what you’re going through.”
To celebrate the return of the NFL season, Ann-Michael and Drake have teamed up with CarGurus, the No. 1-visited car shopping site, on their “Drive in the Life” campaign, which captures how much of life unfolds behind the wheel.
“Starting dating at such a young age, going through all these phases of life together, driving has been at the center of it all,” Ann-Michael explains. “It’s really cool all the moments you have in the car. ‘Drive in the Life’ shows and highlights how important a car is in your daily life and how it really needs to fit all of your different needs so you know it’s best for you.”
