Boston.com / Sports / Bruins

	BOB RYAN

Brady tops off tale for the ages

2/4/2002

EW ORLEANS - They say it takes how long to make someone into an effective quarterback in this league?

There no longer can be rules or maxims involving quarterbacks. Tom Brady has shattered all the myths. Henceforth, if you can play, you can play. There might be other Bradys out there, other second-year players who completed one pass in three attempts as a rookie, who get their chance when the nine-year veteran gets hurt, and who then conclude a 13-3 regular season and playoff combined run by directing their teams downfield in the final 1 minute 21 seconds of the Super Bowl to put them in position for the winning field goal.

But don't bet Junior's school lunch money on it.

Brady may be the exception that proves the rule. Brady may be the NFL's single most inexplicable personnel phenomenon, a sixth-round pick who spends the season in extended OJT and winds up as the MVP in the Super Bowl.

When Brady took control of the huddle with that 1:21 left, no timeouts remaining, the ball on the Patriots 17-yard line, and the score tied at 17 after the Patriots had once led by a 17-3 score, his teammates did not see a kid quarterback. They saw a leader.

''You can't say enough about that kid,'' marveled wide receiver David Patten. ''He has a tremendous amount of confidence, and it rubs off on everyone else. You look in his eyes and say, `Hey, we've got to go down and win it for this kid.'''

''What can I say about Tom Brady?'' added linebacker Tedy Bruschi. ''That minute-and-30-second drive has got to be one of the biggest drives in Super Bowl history.''

''Brady brings a lot of confidence to the team in that huddle,'' said guard Joe Andruzzi.

Brady's modest final numbers show you what you can do with numbers when the only real issue is what's on the scoreboard. He was 16 for 27 for 145 yards and one touchdown. But in what you would have to agree was a reasonably important game, he threw no interceptions and did nothing stupid. ''Tom did a super job of managing the game,'' lauded coach Bill Belichick.

Brady was only overtly great when he had to be. On that final drive, during which he moved the team from its 17 to the Rams 30 in seven plays before spiking the ball to stop the clock at :07, he completed 5 of 6 passes, the sixth being a simple throwaway. The whole performance was eerily similar to his work in the Snow Bowl two weeks ago, when he likewise saved his best for last.

''He did what his team needed him to do,'' said Rams quarterback Kurt Warner. ''He made the plays on the last drive that got them the win. He's done that all year. My hat's off to him.''

Brady was so fazed by his first Super Bowl that he took a nap upon arrival. ''I fell asleep,'' he reported, ''and when I woke up I said to myself I didn't think I'd feel this good. I convinced myself that it was just a game, just another game.''

In some ways, it was. Brady mostly threw the short- and medium-route passes that are his trademark. He had enough of a running game to keep the Rams honest. The defense made huge plays. And when Brady had to be more than just competent, when he needed to be special, he entered another realm and made the plays that had to be made.

I am of the firm belief that in the matter of Truth vs. Fiction, especially when it involves your 2001-02 Patriots, it is always wise to take Truth, plus the points. Like, did Drew Bledsoe, the Big Brother/Mentor/Rival, really instruct Brady just before that final drive to ''Go out there and sling it?'' Well, yes, he did. And did Brady, needing something more than a dink or dunk job, really hit - guess who? - Troy Brown for 23 yards on second and 10 at the Patriots 41? Of course.

''That was the big play,'' Brady said. ''It's called `64 Max All-End,' and the Max stands for, as my coach says, `We need the maximum time for me to throw.'''

The throw was around neck high, but Brown, a.k.a. Mr. Reliable, snatched it out of the air and ran out of bounds. ''The way the Rams play, they really read the quarterback's eyes. I was looking hard to the right, and Troy slipped behind them. They lost sight of him. I hit him, and he did the rest.''

That put the ball on the Rams 36. Brady completed one more, to Jermaine Wiggins for 6 yards, spiked the ball, and turned the proceedings over to Adam Vinatieri, who never had missed an indoor field goal attempt - and still hasn't.

This Brady is a kid whose only realistic goal when the season started was ''to become a far better player by the time it was over.'' The only way he was going to get Bledsoe's job was if Bledsoe got hurt. As for the Super Bowl, please.

The Super Bowl. Tom Brady just won the Super Bowl. How bizarre is that?

''I ran into Dan Marino down here,'' Brady said. ''I've never met him before. I know he was in his second year when he went to the Super Bowl, and I asked him what he was thinking about the day after. He said, `Tommy, I was wishing I could play it over again, because you never know when you'll get back.' It's all about seizing your opportunities.''

There are few things in life more disastrous than to receive your big break and not be prepared to make the most of it. When Bledsoe went down, Brady stepped in with aplomb. The other 10 men in the huddle knew he was prepared. He proved himself to be an astonishingly quick learner. He proved himself to be a winner.

Week after week after week other teams in the NFL learned to respect Tom Brady. Now, in the biggest showcase American sport has to offer, Brady has demonstrated to a fascinated American public that he is a special athlete, that he is a certified champion.

The story line is utterly fictional, but Tom Brady is completely real. He is the Truth who has obliterated all the Fiction.

Bob Ryan is a Globe columnist. His e-mail address is ryan@globe.com.