Tom Brady Celebrates Niece Maya Winning PAC-12 Player of the Year: 'LFG'
Maya Brady, daughter of Tom's sister Maureen, is a star softball player at UCLA in Los Angeles
Uncle Tom Brady is giving his fellow athlete niece some major cool points!
Maya Brady, who plays softball at UCLA in Los Angeles, just won the 2023 PAC-12 Player of the Year award, so she's already doing just fine on her own, but the support of a famous family member must be a nice perk.
"Amazing season @mayabrady," the retired NFL GOAT wrote Wednesday on his Instagram Story, sharing a screen grab of his niece's honor. "LFG," Brady, 45, added with three heart emojis, tagging the Bruins team in the post.
The San Mateo, Calif. native, who is the daughter of Tom's sister Maureen Brady and her husband Brian Timmons, has a batting average of .456 and became the first Bruin to win Pac-12 Player of the Year in 2021.
Now a Redshirt Junior, the 5'10" utility can add this latest title to her growing roster of accolades, including PAC-12 Batting Champion and USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Top 10 Finalist. Another career highlight for Maya was making the Women's College World Series All-Tournament Team in 2022, according to her Bruins team profile.
As for her uncle, a seven-time Super Bowl champ, the star quarterback retired from football as a Tampa Bay Buccaneer at the end of the 2022-2023 season after 23 years in the NFL, playing with the New England Patriots for 20 of those seasons.
Maya lists Tom and softball player Amanda Lorenz as her favorite athletes.
Related:Tom Brady Congratulates Niece Maya on Stellar Softball Performance: 'Must Run in the Family'
Last year, after the then-sophomore helped force an elimination game against the Oklahoma Sooners in the Women's College World Series by scoring two home runs, Brady gave a sweet shout-out on Twitter:
"Must run in the family (sorry mom!)," Tom wrote alongside a video of one of Maya's plays. "Winner takes all in 20 minutes. LET'S GO!" he added.
Sharing her own sentiment toward her uncle to celebrate his retirement last February, Maya posted an old photograph on Instagram that showed Tom holding her as a baby, with her tiny arms wrapped around a football.
Then a dad-in-training, Tom now has three children of his own, son John "Jack" Edward Thomas, 15, who he shares with his ex-girlfriend, actress Bridget Moynahan, and Benjamin Rein, 13, and Vivian Lake, 10, whom he shares with ex-wife Gisele Bündchen.
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"Watching you play football has been one of the greatest joys in my life," Maya wrote in the caption.
"I can't even begin to tell you how many lunch arguments I've gotten in over the last 20 years of my life lol," Maya added. "The greatest to ever do it! I love you so much."
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