Jan Maas is a recurring character featured in the Apple TV+ show, Ted Lasso, a Dutch professional footballer who joined AFC Richmond for the 20/21 Season, and a Center Back player for AFC Richmond. He replaced Anders Rosenfeldt and first introduced after the club lost to Nottingham Forest F.C. He is seen with other team members and even participates in group activities such as karaoke and dancing in clubs. He usually hang out with other players such as Richard Montlaur, Dani Rojas, Thierry Zoreaux, Moe Bumbercatch, and Sam Obisanya.
Brutal Truth[]
After losing a match, Ted Lasso tells everyone to cheer up and be goldfish. Jan asks what the meaning of "Goldfish" is and Colin Hughes explains that they should just forget the mistakes and move on, which he bluntly says that he didn't make any mistake, but Colin did, which surprises everyone.
Due to his Dutch upbringing, Jan tends to be very blunt; he is the type of person without a filter — as soon as he thinks of something, he says it without regard to his listener's feelings, which can be insulting if it is not understood that Jan just speaks his mind about most anything.
When Jamie Tartt returns to the club, he chimes in that he doesn't like him even though he doesn't know him based on everyone's negative reactions. But after a while, he and the rest of the team are warming up to Jamie.
During Christmas, he is Dani's Secret Santa as he brought him a present. Jan and many foreign team members were invited by Leslie Higgins to spend some Christmas time with his family. During his dinner speech, Higgins acknowledge Jan's hometown and other team players' countries that it is an honor to have everyone share their traditions and make new ones.
During the match against Brentford F.C. for a place back in the Premier League, the coaches ask whether they should keep using the 'False Nine' elaborate set piece by Nathan Shelley. Jan says that the tactic works and the team is capable of executing it. He adds that he'd never lie to everyone, because he always speak the truth - after which he also criticizes Thierry Zoreaux about his goalkeeping despite Thierry's protest.
Regardless of his brutal honesty, Jan is well-liked by the team members. He is also very supportive to other players and he spends some time mostly with Sam, Richard, and Dani. Jan Maas is still learning some of the club's culture, as he seems curious about everything, but he's a fast learner and is generally being supportive to others.
When their club is finally promoted to the Premiere League, Jan informs everyone that there is a possibility that Richmond might get relegated again because statistically that is usually what happens. His information doesn't get well received by his teammates, and his captain Isaac McAdoo tells him to shut up.
The Unexpected Rage[]
A new player Zava joins Richmond and greets his new teammates in the locker room, and they are in awe watching him, including Jan who calls him a god after Dani calls him an angel.
During a match against West Ham United F.C., Thierry Zoreaux manages to hold up West Ham's goals until he can't when Armando scores a goal for his club and wins the half-time. Unfortunately, West Ham has a strong defense and the coaches showed them a video of Nathan Shelley ripping off the BELIEVE sign, which results them to anger and anarchy as the players starts to play dirty and chaotic in the match. Many of them attack or provokes the West Ham players, even physically fight them. Armando has to fight off Jan who is taller than him and keeps him away from him.
The Dutchman In English Club[]
Richmond visits Amsterdam for an Exhibition Match (Friendlies Match) against AFC Ajax, and Jan is very upset that his club suffer a loss against a club from his country. Jan is being interviewed by Anwar the reporter after their loss, and the interview is conducted in Dutch. Anwar asks him whether he agrees that the result of the match is very demoralizing, and he answers that their spirits were already broken anyway so they accepts it. When Anwar asks Roy Kent about Richmond's poor performance is because the club is nothing without Zava, Roy rips him apart and curses at him which makes Jan smirks. Keeley Jones tells him he'd done a great job for doing the Dutch interview, but he's too weary to do anything. Ted Lasso tells everyone to have fun in Amsterdam for the whole night to lift their spirits.
At the lobby of their hotel, the team can't decide where are they going to do. Jan offers they go to a private party at Groningen which makes some of them object because it takes two hours to go the party. Jan tells the hotel attendants that his team are very poor tourists, as they refusing to do a fun activities such as going to parties and refusing to eat Dutch food. They spend the whole night arguing, discussing, and voting where to go and what to do, when they finally decides to play pillow fights at the lobby of their hotel. In the morning, Jan and the team's spirit are lifted and they go home to England with a better mood.
Height[]
Jan is one of the tallest players in the AFC Richmond with Paul Reynolds, Thierry Zoreaux, Tyler Shannon, Jack Dawkins, O'Brien, Gareth Canterbury, Babatunde, Tommy Winchester, and Zava.
Trivia[]
- According to actor and creator Jason Sudeikis during the 60Minutes interview, Jan Maas was named after Saskia Maas; one of the owners of Boom Chicago, an international creative group that writes and performs sketch, where Brendan Hunt, Joe Kelly, and himself worked in Amsterdam.