NFL fans celebrate draft at Uptown party; Drake Maye’s HS coach talks when ‘he knew’
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — The end of April always signals two things — the NFL Draft and the beginning of football season.
NFL fans hung out at Ink and Ivy Thursday afternoon for content platform Draft Carolina’s first-ever draft event alongside the Charlotte Touchdown Club. Other fans joined in on the fun in uptown as some Carolina Panthers fans crossed their fingers for impactful picks in the coming days.
Former UNC QB Drake Maye taken 3rd overall by New England Patriots
The Jenkins family are 24-year-season ticket holders with personal seat licenses.
They’re excited for next season and praying for growth across the team, especially with second-year quarterback Bryce Young.
“We got to protect Bryce a little bit better, and we got to get him some weapons,” the dead said following a cheer. “He needs a couple of receivers to throw to… got a little bit better running game. The defense was good last year. We lost a couple of pieces I’m a little worried about, but I think we can overcome that. But we have to surround Bryce, he’s the main thing that we need to do well and I think he’s got it in him to do well.”
Others are hoping they take a player Friday from a college program that’s served the team well in the past.
“My favorite player that played here was Thomas Davis,” says Scott Hill. “He’s no longer playing, but I don’t know that they’re going to be able to pick up a Georgia player this year. If they do, obviously I’m pulling for him and I just want him to do better.”
Since the Panthers drafted Young last year with the number one overall pick, it leaves former Myers Park High School and North Carolina Tar Heels quarterback Drake Maye up for grabs for other cities.
He went third overall to the New England Patriots.
“He just looks like a leader to me,” said lifelong Patriots fan Tim Kelleher. “He’s got a really, really strong arm. I think he’ll just fit perfectly in New England.”
2024 NFL Draft Tracker: Keep up with every 1st round pick and every trade
Scott Chadwick coached Maye for three years at Myers Park High. He says Drake, the football player, is great but Drake the human being is even better.
Chadwick, now head coach for Clayton High in Johnson County, hopes the team that selected the former Tar Heel allows him to compete.
“Somebody asked me the other day, ‘When did you know that you know, Drake had a chance to be an NFL-type quarterback?’ Chadwick said. “And really the answer was, I don’t think there was a point where I didn’t think that you know, from the time I started working with him after his freshman year, it didn’t take long to realize that this kid was he was different.”
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