A viral post made the rounds on social media featuring a picture of Tom Brady. The claim? 23 years ago, he made a clone from his DNA “in a bioscience experiment in North Carolina.” While the post sparked major skepticism, many were quick to point out that a 23-year-old quarterback on Brady’s old team is playing spectacularly this season, with a style reminiscent of the legend himself. That player? New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye. 

The post, made by a satirical NFL page called NFL Drop, has been widely shared. Hundreds of comments feature pictures of Maye and Brady side by side for comparison. Some point out they look somewhat similar and even their smile is alike. One person named Brycen even went on to share details about Maye’s birth in his repost, sparking further conversations. 

“Drake Maye is 23 years old, born on August 30, 2002, in Huntersville, North Carolina,” the post noted. “He is the quarterback for the New England Patriots and played college football for the North Carolina Tar Heels.”

Now, here’s the thing. As per sources, human cloning isn’t banned, but it is prohibited in many states. Brady, meanwhile, is an investor in Colossal Biosciences, a company based in Dallas. Their most notable projects to date include attempts to bring the dire wolf and dodo bird back from extinction. But even with this connection, the post seems to be fake. 

Drake Maye is a superb athlete. So far this season, he has led the Patriots on a six-game win streak and a 7-2 record. He’s also one of the contenders likely to run away with an MVP title if this dominance continues. The Patriots, meanwhile, hadn’t had this kind of run since Tom Brady left the team after the 2019 season. But with all said and done, this viral post is actually based on another interesting revelation that Brady has recently made. There is a clone; it’s just not Brady’s. 

Tom Brady’s story about cloning

Colossal Biosciences recently acquired a biotechnology company called Viagen. Viagen is notably the same company that has famously produced the first mammal to ever be cloned: Dolly the sheep. Coinciding with a press release by Colossal announcing their acquisition of Viagen, Tom Brady made the revelation that he had cloned his dog, Lua.

“I love my animals. They mean the world to me and my family,” Brady noted in an interview. “A few years ago, I worked with Colossal and leveraged their non-invasive cloning technology through a simple blood draw of our family’s elderly dog before she passed.”

Brady’s pit bull, Lua, had passed away in 2023. Shortly afterwards, he welcomed another pit bull to the family named Junie. As Brady reveals now, Junie is a clone of Lua. While this new update has received mixed reactions from the masses, Brady is not the only one who has cloned his pet.

Viagen has also provided its pet cloning services to Paris Hilton and Barbra Streisand in the past. As per Viagen’s website, anyone can preserve their pet’s genetics for a fee of $1,600, while the actual cloning (cats & dogs) process costs $50,000. While the cloned pet may have similar attributes to the original, it may not have the old pet’s personality. Still, it offers a great deal of comfort to those who do not wish to part with their pets.