Who Is Maya Brady? Meet Tom Brady's Superstar Niece
Tom Brady is known for being the best player in NFL history due to his success individually and with the teams he played for. But another member of the Brady family is doing big things in the sports world. Maya Brady plays softball for UCLA and just finished a memorable 2023 season with the Bruins. She helped the team reach the NCAA Regionals this season and the Women's College World Series in 2022. And she's similar to her uncle in terms of their stat line.
Brady joined UCLA after having a standout career at Oaks Christian High School in Thousand Oaks, California. She was named the Ventura County Star 2019 All-County Softball Player of the Year and the Los Angeles Daily News Player of the Year after hitting .558 with 12 home runs and 32 RBIs as a senior. Brady was named the No. 2 recruit in the nation by FloSoftball and was a finalist for Cal-Hi Sports Ms. Softball.
In her first season with UCLA (2020), Brady was named Softball America Freshman Player of the Year after leading the Bruins with seven home runs and tying for first with 28 RBIs and a batting average of .356. In 2021, Brady was selected to the All-Pa-12 First Team and named an NFCA All-American after hitting .333 with 14 home runs and 32 RBIs.
Last year, Brady was selected to the All-Pac-12 Third Team and NFCA West All-Region Second Team after hitting .339 with 15 home runs and 53 RBIs. She was also named to the Women's College World Series All-Tournament Team after hitting .438 with two homers and seven RBIs in Oklahoma City. But this year was Brady's best as she was named Pac-12 Player of the Year after winning the batting title for the conference (.456). She's also a finalist for USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year, hitting 18 home runs and 59 RBIs in 58 games.
In an interview with former Patriots running back Shane Vereen on Pac-12 Radio, Brady talked about how her uncle helped her in sports. "I love him and he's like a father figure to me, so I'm very honored, obviously, that I have this last name and I have the family that I have," she said, per MassLive.com. "I think it's just something that I've had to kind of grow into and it's a huge blessing for me." Brady is the daughter of Maureen Brady, Tom's older sister who was an All-American pitcher at Fresno State.