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Top athletes run in the Brady family, as the niece of the legendary NFL quarterback achieved a milestone her uncle never achieved: reaching the No. 1 spot in a professional sports draft.
Maya Brady was selected No. 1 overall in the Athletes Unlimited Softball League expansion and allocation drafts on Monday. The Oklahoma City Spark drafted the former UCLA Bruins star shortstop. Brady’s mother is Maureen Brady, Tom Brady’s sister. Her mother was also a star softball player for the Fresno State Bulldogs.
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UCLA’s Maya Brady (7) bats during an NCAA softball game against Grand Canyon on May 19, 2023, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong, File)
Brady was a superstar when he was with the Bruins. She was a two-time Pac-12 Player of the Year Award winner, a two-time USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year finalist and a three-time National Fastpitch Coaches Association First Team All-American.
He finished his college career in 2024 in second place, finishing all-time in the program in home runs (71), runs batted in (246) and slugging percentage (.757).
Being in the Brady family can come with a certain kind of pressure, but in an interview with The Athletic, he suggested that he understood that pressure makes diamonds.
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UCLA shortstop Maya Brady (7) reacts during an NCAA softball game against Washington on March 17, 2023 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong, File)
“For me, knowing that my family is very successful, I think it puts a lot of pressure on me,” she said in 2021. “It’s not pressure like… I’m going to embarrass the Brady name. It’s just a good pressure. I love carrying the last name. I’m very proud of it.”
The Cascade selected former Oklahoma Sooners pitcher Sam Landry at No. 2 and then followed up with former Oklahoma State Cowgirls pitcher Kelly Maxwell as the No. 1 pick in the draft allocation.
Former Sooner slugger Jocelyn Alo went to the Bandits with the No. 10 overall draft assignment.
Oklahoma’s Sam Landry (21) throws a pitch during the Women’s College World Series softball game between the Oklahoma Sooners and the Oregon Ducks at Devon Park in Oklahoma City, Sunday, June 1, 2025. (SARAH PHIPPS/THE OKLAHOMAN/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
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The AUSL was founded in 2024. The Talons defeated the Bandits in the 2025 championship earlier this year. The league has six teams in total.
