BOB RYAN

Bledsoe awaits Belichick signal

1/30/2002

EW ORLEANS - The following is not exactly a news bulletin: They both want to play.

''I know he wants to play,'' says Patriots quarterback Tom Brady of fellow QB Drew Bledsoe. ''Obviously, I want to play. It's no different than it's been all year.''

Well, yes it is. There is only one game left to play and it just happens to be a little extravaganza known as the Super Bowl. It's one thing to miss a September game against the Bills. It is quite another to be forced into a spectating, clipboard-toting, headset-wearing capacity when the game you're watching is the Super Bowl.

''This is a competitive game we play,'' Bledsoe says. ''You want to get in the game, and to have that taken away would be a very difficult thing. I would be very disappointed if I didn't get to play.''

Coach Bill Belichick says he must wait until today, after he actually has seen Brady perform, before he announces his starter in Super Bowl XXXVI. But astute Belichickologists know his is not really a Solomonesque decision. It would be entirely contradictory, illogical, and just play un-Belichickian if he were to reverse a two-month policy and employ Bledsoe over a healthy Brady in the biggest game of the year.

Do soap operas (among whose most fervent followers are professional athletes) get much better than this? Assuming Brady's injured ankle is healed well enough to get him back on the field, Bledsoe will not be able to seek Super Bowl redemption on the same field where he and his team were beaten in his first visit to the climactic game five years ago. He will be replaced by a young man who is the same age Bledsoe was when he started against the Packers. And he is savvy enough to know that he may never get another chance to play in this game.

''In '96,'' he says, ''I was 24 and I had my whole career in front of me. As much as I tried to resist it, and knowing what people were saying about how hard it is to get here, I was young and I believed there would be many more chances to come back to the Super Bowl. Of course, it never works out that way for anybody. Having a shot to play in this game a second time means a little bit more.''

Only an android or a Vulcan or some such quasi-human would be unable to avoid feeling what Bledsoe is going to feel if and when that game starts and he is relegated to backup duty. He will do and say all the right things, but he will be torn up inside to some degree.

He was able to keep a lid on everything until last Sunday. But by playing, and having a direct role in the victory, the emotional toothpaste is out of the tube and it's not going back inside. However much he wanted to play before that game against the Steelers, he wants to play exponentially more now.

''This whole experience has made me realize how much I love the game and love playing it,'' he explains. ''When you have the opportunity to play for a long time, and then it's snatched away, it makes you realize how much you love it.''

Anyone with eyes could see how much fun he was having and how deeply satisfied he was when he completed that touchdown pass to David Patten in the back of the end zone during his 3 for 3 entrance into that game. The little boy in him likewise surfaced when he took the hit from defensive back Chad Scott and came up smiling. How could he be happy going back to holding a clipboard?

Brady understands. He appreciates everything Bledsoe has done for him, before and after his injury. He is also a lifelong jock and competitor. This isn't some kid's novel. He's not about to be knocking on Belichick's door and saying, ''Coach, I wouldn't feel right if Drew didn't play. I'll have another chance.''

He wants to play because he wants to play. His rational self also might be convinced he really is better than Bledsoe and he really does give the team a better chance to win, although there is no chance of him saying that out loud. Why shouldn't he feel that way? It's been pretty clear for more than two months that Belichick believes it.

''I feel I can do it,'' Brady says. ''It's one of those injuries where it's a tolerance thing. I can brace it up. This is the biggest game of my life. I wouldn't think of sitting out a game like this.''

Brady understands why the coach has yet to publicly commit to him. ''If you're going to beat a team like the Rams,'' he says, ''you need a full week to prepare. [Belichick] wants to know what he's got. I'm going to do everything I can to get ready to play.''

Whatever the final disposition, their Big Brother/Little Brother relationship should endure. ''Tom and I are good friends,'' insists Bledsoe. ''But for me to sit here and say it's the same as it was before, I'd be lying. But we will see each other in the offseason, and we will continue to be friends.''

That's nice, but those aren't the words that resonate. Here are the Bledsoe words to ponder: ''I want to play as badly as I've ever wanted anything in my life. This is the Super Bowl.''

It sure is, and I'm starting to feel sorry for Drew Bledsoe already.

Bob Ryan is a Globe columnist.