HOUSTON - The lights are in Tom Brady's eyes, and still, he is the coolest guy in the room.
The microphones extend until they are close to his chin, and there is a danger one could be lost in his cavernous cleft. Brady does not flinch. The questions come in bunches, competing with each other for his attention, all of them asked a little too loudly. Brady doesn't seem to notice.
This is what he does. He faces the heat, and he remains calm. He weighs the possibilities, he finds the answers. He grins, he shrugs. He wins. Here, on the verge of greatness, he does not crack.
Surrounded by small annoyances, arrogant quarterbacks tend to snarl. Egotistical ones smirk. Brittle ones snap. Brady? He grins a lot.
This is Brady's day. This is his coronation. Already, he is famous. Already, he is admired. Already, he is envied.
Today, Brady can become great.
The designation is only for him. There are excellent players for the Patriots and the Panthers, but only Brady can see his image graduate from good to great with a stellar performance in this Super Bowl. Stephen Davis, even if he's terrific, would remain a very good back. Ty Law would remain underrated. Julius Peppers would still be rising stars.
If Brady wins, his greatness is in place.
Such is the opportunity of a 26-year-old quarterback. Brady can become the youngest quarterback to win his second Super Bowl. He can prove himself as special. He can become ... Joe Montana.
Brady rolls his eyes. Joe Montana? Now, he's supposed to be Joe Montana?
For crying out loud, in college, he wasn't even Brian Griese. The last time he was in the Super Bowl, there were a lot of voices shouting that he shouldn't start, because he wasn't Drew Bledsoe. His past two games, he has heard how he wasn't Steve McNair and how he wasn't Payton Manning. Now, he's supposed to be Montana?
"That's a little crazy," Brady said. "He was the best quarterback in the history of the game."
Ah, but the Super Bowl is big on hyperbole, and Brady, similar to Montana, lacked a great arm or dazzling feet. Both players sliced you up with paper cuts. Both had the unwavering faith of their teammates. And, as Patriots coach Bill Belichick puts it, "both are right-handed quarterbacks."
Also, there is this. Similar to Montana, Brady seems to win. "The biggest winner in football," Law said.
The kid has some star quality, too. Say what you want about the blandness of this game, but for a long time, Boston has seen Brady's charisma. Joe Montana? Hah. In Boston, the gossip columns treat him as if he is Joe Namath.
There is his current romance, for instance, with actor Bridget Moynahan (The Sum of All Fears). It seems Moynahan dumped scriptwriter Scott Rosenberg (Con Air) to be with Brady. That wouldn't be so bad, but Rosenberg, alas, is a longtime Patriots fan. At least, he used to be.
In Boston, rumors about Brady fly more frequently, although less accurately, than his passes. He dated Tara Reid, and when the Patriots failed to make the playoffs last year, some fans dismissed Reid as the football version of Yoko Ono. There were the rumors Donald Trump wanted to fix Brady up with his daughter, Ivanka. There were whispers about Mariah Carey, about Britney Spears.
(That one has come full circle. Comedian Jay Leno said that Spears thinks Brady is such a heartthrob, she'd be willing to be married to him for an entire week!)
He has visited the White House and the Playboy Mansion. He has done a cameo in the movie Stuck on You. He has been named one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world by People Magazine.
"Women want to be with him," tight end Christian Fauria said. "Men want to be him."
Of course, a man cannot be Namath nonstop. Lately, he also has spent time as Jack Kemp.
Yep, that was Brady, sitting at the table next to the First Family at the State of the Union address. When Brady was told the president had invited him, his response was: "Which president?"
That's the charming thing about Brady. He is surrounded by celebrity, and he has retained this goofy look of a kid at the carnival. He seems able to enjoy the moment without taking it too seriously. He is the rare athlete who has not outgrown his cool.
This week, Brady was told that Carolina's Jake Delhomme considered Brady to be his role model.
"You mean he wants to be slow with an average arm?" Brady asked. "Doesn't he want to be Michael Vick? Come on. Have some aspirations."
Wonderful thing, perspective. For all the fame, Brady remains universally liked by his teammates. He is one of the harder workers on the Pats, and they know the width of his competitive streak.
"My biggest fear," he has said, "is that I'll be a one-hit wonder."
The world has lowered expections of Super Bowl quarterbacks these days. Lately, the trend has been toward intelligent, efficient passers. Caretaker quarterbacks. Brady has a chance to be more. For a new generation, he has a chance to personify poise under pressure.
It is a rare quarterback who can make us appreciate the knack of being able to win. It is an unusual passer who will make you notice intelligence, intensity, intangibles.
Today, Brady could make you appreciate such gifts. He could dazzle you with efficiency, excite you with his calm, dumbfound you with his smarts.
