Trust is not easily earned on the football field, not from coaches or other players, nor, as it turns out, even from NASA.
During a Monday appearance on WEEI radio in Boston, the topic turned from the Pats big road win against hated divisional rival Buffalo. It shifted to Maye’s belief, or lack of belief, in the United States’ 1969 moon landing.
“I don’t know about the moon, you know,” Maye mused. “I think I can see back in the day why we would put on the mask if we went there, but 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 then revealed that he took a class on conspiracy theories at the University of North Carolina.
“They studied [Adolf] Hitler being alive and ‘Are birds real?’ — some of the classic ones that you hear about,” he said.
The third-year quarterback can count himself lucky, if he’s willing to believe NASA, because there is, of course, actual proof.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman responded to a tweet about Maye’s disbelief in the Moon landing and offered assistance.
“I quite literally have the receipts,” Isaacman wrote.
Maye is by no means alone as an athlete skeptic. On his team’s recent trip to Australia, 49ers linebacker Dre Greenlaw openly questioned whether Antarctica was a “lie” when talking to reporters. In addition, NBA guard Kyrie Irving has repeatedly asserted that he doesn’t believe the world is flat. However, he did eventually apologize for saying that.