The NFL has always had its power couples, but lately they have been taking over our feeds in ways that have nothing to do with football. We have Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, Hailee Steinfeld and Josh Allen, and Simone Biles and Jonathan Owens. Now? It’s homemade cookies and chocolate bark flooding TikTok, courtesy of a home baker who just happens to be married to the Patriots’ quarterback.
Who is Ann Michael Maye?
Ann Michael Maye, the 22-year-old wife of the New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye, has become an unlikely celebrity in the sports world — not for her field fashion or game-day appearances — but for her brown sugar cinnamon swirl sourdough and Grinch bread. By sharing her video recipes online, Maye has earned the affectionate title “First Lady of New England.”
Her big moment came with her viral TikTok series “Bakemas” where she baked something new every day leading up to the holidays. Brown butter chocolate chip cookies, oatmeal cream pies, and mandarin chocolate bark— everything looked incredible. She has racked up over 350,000 followers and 5.8 million likes on Tiktok, with several Bakemas videos receiving over 1 million views.
Ann Michael started posting on TikTok in college, but it wasn’t until last year that she began sharing actual recipes. She walks through each step on camera, making everything feel doable. While she mixes in the occasional day-in-the-life content and outfit posts, cooking and baking are her main thing.
This momentum led to a massive announcement last week: Maye is officially hosting her own NBC Sports cooking segment titled Beyond Bakemas. The debut episode, which aired this past Sunday, featured game day M&M cookies, Dunkin’ sponsorship, and a guest appearance by Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy.
While Taylor Swift’s romance with Kansas City Chiefs’ Travis Kelce introduced millions to the intersection of pop culture and professional football, Maye is forging her own path. She and Drake are childhood sweethearts who began dating at just 12 years old. This isn’t a whirlwind NFL romance; they are actual childhood sweethearts who happened to end up in the spotlight, and she’s learning what to do with it in real time.
New England has seen this before, sort of. Gisele Bundchen brought her international supermodel presence to Foxborough during the Tom Brady years. But Ann Michael Maye is bringing something completely different to the table (literally). Gisele was aspirational where Ann is accessible. She is sharing recipes that anyone can try in their own homes. Gisele Bundchen’s shoes were big ones to fill, but she never invited us into her kitchen for a rice krispies tutorial.
We might not all marry an NFL quarterback months after college graduation, but we can certainly replicate her confetti cupcakes and sugar cookies. Whether you’re a die-hard Patriots fan or just a fan of baked goods, Ann Michael Maye has proven that the stomach is the best way to a fan base’s heart.