Drake Maye completed his rapid rise from promising quarterback to national sports star Wednesday at the ESPYS.
He just did not leave the event with any hardware.
The New England Patriots quarterback lost the Best Breakthrough Athlete award to American figure skater Alysa Liu.
Maye also fell short in the Best NFL Player category, which went to Myles Garrett after the Cleveland Browns pass rusher broke the league’s single-season sack record.
The losses hardly qualify as a serious setback.
Maye was one of ESPN’s first-time nominees and the only athlete selected as a finalist in both the breakthrough and NFL categories.
The mere recognition he received shows how quickly expectations around him have skyrocketed.
Maye entered last season as a talented young quarterback trying to establish himself on a rebuilding team. He now enters 2026 as the face of a franchise coming off 14 victories and a Super Bowl appearance.
Liu’s Olympic Run Proved Difficult to Beat
Maye faced a strong field for Best Breakthrough Athlete.
ESPN selected him alongside Liu, San Jose Sharks forward Macklin Celebrini and Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza.
The official ESPYS results confirmed Liu as the winner.
Liu had the type of international performance that often carries extra weight in a fan-voted award.
She won Olympic gold in the women’s singles competition and helped the United States earn another gold in the figure skating team event. Her individual victory made her the first American woman to win Olympic figure skating gold since Sarah Hughes in 2002.
Maye still had a solid argument after changing the direction of the Patriots in his second NFL season.
The 23-year-old completed 72% of his passes for 4,394 yards, 31 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He added 450 rushing yards and four scores while helping New England improve from four victories in 2024 to a 14-3 record.
The Patriots won the AFC East and advanced through three playoff rounds before losing 29-13 to the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl LX.
Maye also became a finalist for Best NFL Player alongside Garrett, Matthew Stafford and Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
ESPN had already placed Maye among the event’s most prominent newcomers by naming him as one of its seven first-time nominees.
ESPYs Loss Still Raises the Bar for Maye
The breakthrough label may no longer fit Maye by the time the next ESPYS arrive.
New England’s quarterback has already established that his rookie struggles did not define him. His second season ended with one of the most productive passing campaigns in franchise history and the Patriots’ first Super Bowl appearance since the 2018 season.
Now, Maye will no longer benefit from the lower expectations that followed a four-win rookie campaign. The Patriots will begin 2026 with opponents treating them as an AFC contender and Maye as one of the league’s most dangerous quarterbacks.
New England has also placed more responsibility on him and made a big move to acquire talented wide receiver A.J. Brown.
The ESPYS result offered another reminder that national recognition becomes harder to earn once a player reaches that level.
Liu produced an Olympic moment that will remain part of American sports history.
Garrett set an NFL record.
Maye was competing against accomplishments that extended beyond a standard breakout season.
His nomination still reflected how far he traveled in one year, but it’s time to move beyond breakthrough awards altogether.
Maye turns his sights to thee most important honors reserved for NFL stars, the NFL MVP award and the Lombardi Trophy.
Missing out Wednesday night did little to slow his rise.
It exemplifies how high the standard has become.
Patriots’ Drake Maye Falls Short Against Olympian, NFL Great at ESPYs