Drake Maye is having a great week.
After a slow start to the season, the New England quarterback seemed to return to his almost-MVP form from a year ago (he finished second in voting to the Rams’ Matthew Stafford) on Sunday during a 29-26 win over the previously unbeaten Buffalo Bills.
On Wednesday, Maye was announced as the AFC offensive player of the week for his efforts in that game, which included completing 22 of 37 passes for 269 yards with three touchdowns and one interception and rushing for 54 yards in eight attempts.
With Maye-mania surely back on track in New England, there was probably no better time for the third-year quarterback to casually drop that he kinda, sorta, maybe, possibly isn’t quite sure moon landings have ever actually happened.
During an appearance Monday on WEEI-FM (93.7) in Boston, Maye was asked by a caller, “What wild conspiracy theory out there do you actually kind of secretly believe in?”
Maye asked for a moment to think — “let me try not to get too controversial,” he said — before revealing his answer.
“I don’t know about the moon, you know?” Maye said. “I’m not really sure 200% if we went there or not. I wouldn’t say I’m leaning one way or the other. I just know I’m a little bit skeptical.”
Maye spent three years at North Carolina, including two as the Tar Heels’ starting quarterback. In 2022, he set a school record with 4,321 passing yards, tied another with 38 passing touchdowns and was named the Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year.
During his time at Chapel Hill, Maye said during the radio interview earlier this week, he took a class on conspiracy theories.
“They studied Hitler being alive and ‘are birds real?’ — some of the classic ones that you hear about,” Maye explained.
Asked to elaborate on the birds one, Maye said there are some who believe birds are actually instruments of the government used to spy on us — “or something along the lines of that,” he said.
Maye isn’t the only athlete who has expressed moon-landing doubt. In 2018, Stephen Curry said he didn’t think humans had ever been there, although two days later the Golden State Warriors superstar said that he was kidding.
Former NASCAR and IndyCar driver Danica Patrick reportedly posted one such theory on her Instagram Stories in 2024 and wrote that she believes it.
“I don’t care if you think I’m crazy,” she wrote. “I already know I am.”
Earlier this year, Boston Celtics guard Derrick White described himself as a “non-moon landing guy.” Also, two-time major golf champion Bryson DeChambeau said that while it’s likely that moon landings have happened, some of the footage we’ve been shown might have been fake.
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