Tom Brady isn't the only athlete in his family to make sporting history. The quarterback's niece, Maya Brady, stepped into the spotlight on Monday when she was chosen as the No. 1 overall pick by the Oklahoma City Spark in the Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) expansion draft.
After a standout college run at UCLA, Maya went on to play for the Talons, who picked her 19th in the league’s first-ever draft earlier this year. However, after the league expanded to six teams, the Oklahoma City Spark brought her on board for their new franchise. Maya impressed with a .500 batting average with a home run and 5 RBIs.
After being selected by the Talons in the fifth round of the AUSL’s inaugural draft, she spent the first month of the season on the bench due to a hamstring injury. After fully recovering, she reached base in all of her first 10 plate appearances and posted a perfect 7-for-7 record with three walks.
© Getty Images for The 5050 FoundaAs Maya continues to shine on the field, HELLO! takes an in-depth look at her life and her relationship with her uncle, Tom.
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Maya picked up softball at just four years old, and by the time she was nine, she knew she wanted to play for UCLA. "I remember being so nervous because it was my first UCLA game that I had ever gone to,” Maya told ESPN. "I was that shy little 9-year-old kid that the coaches would ask questions to, and I would just smile and look at my mom because I couldn't even speak."
"Having so much admiration for them after the World Series win, and then going there and being in that atmosphere around the team and coaches really made me a die-hard UCLA fan," she added.
While playing softball at Oaks Christian High School in Thousand Oaks, California, Maya guided her team to three league championships and collected multiple awards and honors by the time she graduated in 2019. By her senior year at UCLA, she was hailed as the No.2 softball recruit.
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Maya’s mother, Maureen, earned All-American honors as a softball pitcher at Fresno State University, leading her team to Women’s College World Series titles in 1992 and 1994 and securing a place in school history with 80 career wins, ranking ninth all-time.
Maureen's younger brother, Tom, is a seven-time Super Bowl champion. Their sister, Julie, was a college soccer player and is married to former MLB player and two-time World Series champion Kevin Youkilis, while Nancy, their other sister, was likewise a standout in softball.
"We all just love sports and love being competitive," Maya told The Athletic. "The common denominator is that we all love winning. Especially in such a close family, you get bragging rights."
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Maya's parents, Maureen and Brian Timmons, divorced in July 2010. Maureen raised Maya and her sister, Hanna, while she worked as a traveling nurse. Maya previously gushed over her uncle Tom, saying he was "more of a father figure" than an uncle.
"We’re very close," she told The Athletic. "We’re a very close family in general, but I have a really special bond with Uncle Tommy."
© Getty Images for Fortune MediaRelationship with uncle
The NFL star is one proud uncle when it comes to his niece. "Maya Brady, the most dominant athlete in the Brady family...by far!" he wrote on X in 2021.
"I think Maya is already the most athletic person of the family," he told the Boston Globe in 2019. "She’s just a great athlete, so competitive. And she’s been on such winning teams and she’s such a great teammate. It’s so impressive."
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Maya's boyfriend, James Dinneen, is also in the sports world, and the pair have been in a relationship since 2022. Dinneen was a linebacker on UCLA’s football team before he graduated in 2022.
