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Former NC State, NFL quarterback Philip Rivers working with North Carolina's Drake Maye ahead of 2024 NFL Draft

Ehsan Kassim, USA TODAY NETWORK
·3 min read

Drake Maye is expected to be selected early in the 2024 NFL Draft on Thursday in Detroit.

The UNC football quarterback could go as high as No. 2 overall to the Washington Commanders but isn't expected to fall below No. 3 where the New England Patriots are currently slotted to pick, barring trades. Ahead of the draft, Maye has been working with former NC State star and long-time NFL quarterback Philip Rivers.

REQUIRED READING: 2024 NFL mock draft: Where UNC Tar Heels prospects are projected to land

Maye spoke with ESPN's Ryan Clark about his experience working with the long-time San Diego/Los Angeles Charger quarterback in a clip shared on X (formerly Twitter). Rivers, who is 42, has not yet lost his competitive edge.

"We had a quarterback competition, we threw on the field," Maye said of working with Rivers. "We were throwing out-routes into the net. I hate to say it, but Philip still won that. The two best things I got out of that are Philip can still throw it and his memory of his play calls."

Philip Rivers trash talk

Despite the victory for Rivers over a trio of NFL Draft prospects, Maye said the competition was close.

"It was close, obviously," Maye said of the throwing competition. "We threw five into the net. He hit three. It was me, Bo Nix and Carter Bradley. We all hit two. He hit three. He can still throw it. ... He's still talking trash."

Rivers, who is from Decatur, Alabama, finished his NC State career with 13,484 passing yards, 95 touchdowns and 34 interceptions. He had his number retired by the school before his final home game. He was the fourth overall pick out of in the 2004 NFL Draft by the New York Giants. He was of course traded on draft night to the Chargers in a significant package for Eli Manning.

Rivers served as the starting quarterback for the Chargers between 2006 and 2019, never missing a start before finishing his career with the Indianapolis Colts when San Diego drafted his replacement Justin Herbert out of Oregon. He finished his NFL career with 63,440 passing yards, 421 touchdowns, 209 interceptions and a passer rating of 95.2.

He has served as the football coach at St. Michael Catholic High School in Fairhope, Alabama, since 2021, upon his retirement. He served as a coach to Maye and other QBs preparing for the NFL Draft.

"He drew up a play one time on the board, we were talking about a play," Maye said. "I think it was about 25 words long. He was having us repeat it back to him. But he's the best."

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Former NC State, NFL quarterback Philip Rivers working with UNC QB Drake Maye