UCLA softball star Maya Brady stepped out of the shadow of her seven-time Super Bowl champion uncle as she won the Pac-12 batting title.
Brady is the niece of NFL icon Tom, who retired from American football after 23 seasons back in February. She is also the niece of former MLB star Kevin Youkilis, a three-time All-Star with the Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox and New York Yankees.
With such sporting royalty in her family, Brady delivered in her own discipline in 2023. She hit .456 to win the coveted Pac-12 batting title - becoming the 16th UCLA Bruin to claim the award in the programme’s 48-year history - while she tallied career highs with 16 home runs, 57 RBIs and 59 runs this season.
Brady leads the conference with her batting average, while her 57 RBIs and 16 home runs ranks second. As a result, the redshirt junior was agonisingly close to becoming just the fourth player in Pac-12 history to win the batting triple crown.
Brady impressed during her freshman season in 2020 that was cut short by the pandemic, while she was named an NFCA first-team All-American in 2021. However, she struggled in 2022 amid the high expectations that come with her surname and family.
“I definitely got caught up in a lot of media and what people were saying about me,” Brady said. “At one point in the season, I was so over that, that it almost did allow me to break free from my own standards.
“If nobody else was going to believe in me, then I might as well believe in myself.”
During an interview on Pac-12 Radio, Brady revealed what it's like being related to the greatest quarterback of all time. She said: “I love him and he's like a father figure to me, so I'm very honoured, obviously, that I have this last name and I have the family that I have. I think it's just something that I've had to kind of grow into and it's a huge blessing for me.
“It has taught me a lot throughout my life. Dealing with adversity and blocking people out when they have stuff to say, so I think it's just been a very positive thing for me and I'm very blessed.”
The 20-year-old clearly has a huge amount of love and admiration for the NFL legend, but she could be set to create her own legacy in sport. Her teammates think as much too, with outfielder Aaliyah Jordan recently declaring: “She’s Maya Brady. She’s not just Tom Brady’s niece.”
