Jeff Bradley of the Star-Ledger (N.J.) has a spectacular story today on Tom Brady‘s amateur baseball career. Brady went to Junipero Serra High School in California, a legendary program that produced Barry Bonds and a number of first-round picks, including Gregg Jefferies and pitcher Dan Serafini.

Brady was a left-handed-hitting catcher with impressive power and terrific arm strength. While he was inclined to go to college, the Expos took him in the 18th round of the 1997 draft and tried to steer him towards baseball.

A few highlights from Bradley’s tremendous article:

“I remember after he won his first Super Bowl,” says John Hughes, a baseball scout who tried to get Brady to sign with the Montreal Expos out of high school. “I was with some buddies and I said, ‘Man, I could’ve ruined this guy’s career if I’d only tried harder.’ ”

Truth is, Hughes tried pretty hard to sign Brady. And with good reason.

“I thought Tommy was a sure thing as a baseball player,” said [Brady's high school coach, Pete Jensen], who retired from coaching in 2009, after 24 years, but still teaches architectural design at Serra High. “Even more a sure thing than [Jeffries] or [Bonds], believe it or not. As good a football player as he was, I thought he was a better baseball player in high school.”

Evidently, the recruiting pitch made by Expos scout Hughes backfired spectacularly. Again, from the article:

In what was Hughes’ last, best pitch to sign Brady, he met him at Candlestick Park when the Montreal Expos were playing the San Francisco Giants, put him in an Expos uniform, and introduced him to Rondell White and F.P. Santangelo, who led him onto the field to take batting practice. Hughes was hoping this would be the type of experience to change his mind.

But when he went into the clubhouse a little while later, what Hughes saw pretty much convinced him there was no shot. “Tom was sitting on a stool in the clubhouse,” Hughes recalled with a laugh. “And he was surrounded by guys from the team. And Tom was holding court. They all wanted to talk to him about playing quarterback in the Big House for Michigan. Guys were like, ‘You can’t pass that up for baseball.’ ”

There’s plenty more to digest from Bradley’s story, which can be read here.

BenJarvus Green-Ellis could be a difference-maker in the Super Bowl. (AP)

Here’s the thumbnail sketch of Thursday’s coverage of the build-up to Super Bowl XLVI on WEEI.com:

– Looking for an X-factor in the Super Bowl who could offer the Patriots an element that they did not have in Super Bowl XLII? Chris Price says that BenJarvus Green-Ellis could be your man.

– Meanwhile, one difference-making player on the Giants who wasn’t around in the two teams’ last Super Bowl is Jason Pierre-Paul. The Giants took the athletic pass-rusher as a first-rounder, someone who fits perfectly the mold of their draftees. Interestingly, Pierre-Paul represents precisely the type of player whom the Patriots never draft. D.J. Bean explores why in his examination of the different drafting approaches that have allowed the teams to reload for the Super Bowl rematch.

– One other notable change for this Giants team: An explosive receiving corps. Devin McCourty, in his Friday morning interview on Dennis & Callahan, discussed the challenge that New York’s trio of WRs presents.

– Tom Brady was a bit stunned that a private exchange with Patriots owner Robert Kraft became public. Even so, the quarterback acknowledged that he will need to step up his play from the AFC championship game to the Super Bowl in order to position the Patriots to win.

– As for the other quarterback? Patriots defensive lineman Vince Wilfork suggested that Eli Manning has grown into a player who no longer makes “bonehead mistakes.” (It was a compliment.)

– Meanwhile, Chad Ochocinco is impressed that Chad Ochocinco isn’t making bonehead mistakes. The receiver, in an interview with the AP, admitted that he was surprised that he hadn’t said anything silly about his role on the Patriots this year, while calling it a season that has been “humbling” but also an experience that has ultimately been satisfying to date.

– Mike Petraglia tracked down a picture of Bill Parcells in an awesomely 80s sweater to examine the coaching tree that has extended from Parcells to protegees Bill Belichick and Tom Coughlin.

– Patriots coach Bill Belichick spoke. Here are highlights. Giants coach Tom Coughlin talked down in New Jersey, where Kirk Minihane suggested he “penned a power ballad to his opposing Super Bowl coach.” (Thoughts on a power ballad to Belichick? One presumes Bon Jovi would be the artist of choice…)

– New England-based BC alums face a daunting decision: Root for their local Patriots team or a Giants team that has made a habit of loading its roster with Eagles players. The Giants feature six former BC standouts, and one of them — returner/cornerback Will Blackmon — joined the Dennis & Callahan Show on Thursday and touted what he described as a “special” Giants team. Highlights of the interview are here.

– What are you doing on Sunday? At Gillette Stadium, you can join the rally to send the Patriots off to the Super Bowl. Details here.

Jason Pierre-Paul is just the type of player the Giants would go after in the draft, and just the type of player the Patriots would avoid. (AP)

Jason Pierre-Paul has become one of the top pass-rushers in the NFL, a key component of a Giants team that is relentless in its effort to beat quarterbacks senseless. Yet the difference-making defensive end represents precisely the type of player whom the Patriots wouldn’t touch in the draft.

Why?

The answer helps to illustrate how the Giants and Patriots have rebuilt their rosters to make their respective runs to Super Bowl XLVI. There’s a reason why the NFL draft gets so much attention each year. Champions are built in the draft, and next Sunday will feature a matchup of two previously championship-caliber teams that have used the draft in drastically different ways to get back to the Super Bowl.

The cogs — Tom Brady, Vince Wilfork, Wes Welker, Eli Manning and Osi Umenyiora, among others — are still there, but the Patriots and Giants have reloaded in the draft over the last four years. Both teams have done well, though they’ve done so with different philosophies and different results.

The Patriots have drafted 41 players since 2008 (the first draft after Super Bowl XLII), and 24 are still with the team. The Giants have drafted 31 players since 2008 and have kept 23 of them. The highest Giants pick not currently with the team from the last four drafts? That would be 2008 fourth-round pick Bryan Kehl. The Pats, meanwhile, have parted ways with seven players taken in the first three rounds of the last four drafts.

Read the rest of this entry »

Vince Wilfork will be looking to harass Eli Manning (10) on Super Sunday. (AP)

FOXBORO — No one says it like it is on the Patriots defense quite like Vince Wilfork.

Asked what he thought of Giants quarterback Eli Manning, Wilfork said the Patriots will see a more mature quarterback than they saw in Super Bowl XLII and – for that matter – on Nov. 4 at Gillette Stadium.

“You’ve seen him grow,” Wilfork said. “You’ve seen a guy not making the bonehead mistakes. He’s protecting the football and that’s first and foremost. When you can protect the football offensively, you have a good shot. And I think with the guys surrounding him that can make plays – that’s all they have to do is protect the ball and they’ll find themselves in pretty good shape. So it’s just a team that’s going to grind it out for 60 minutes. They going to play for 60 minutes and you know what, if we make a mistake or anyone that faced them made a mistake, it’s going to cost them so it’s going to be a tough, tough game for us but at the same time it’s going to be very, very exciting.”

Forget “elite,” Wilfork put Manning used the word “great” to describe his play leading the Giants to playoff road wins in Green Bay and San Francisco.

“He’s a great quarterback,” Wilfork said. “He’s been a first pick in the draft. I’ve always watched him. He does everything you’re looking for as a quarterback. I’ve seen it firsthand what he can do in the fourth quarter of these games. He’s done a great job bringing his team back. He’s a great leader. You always hear that coming out of New York, the guys really have a lot of respect for him and so do I.”

“It’s part of the position and you watch the San Francisco game and I watched that and he was getting drilled and just stood in there and kept making the throws, trusting his protection and came through when they needed him,” Brady said. “He’s certainly a great leader for that team and plays at an extremely high level. You don’t get to this game without playing at a high level. He seems to always do it down the stretch. I have a ton of respect for him. He’s a great competitor. He’s a great quarterback for that team.”

Manning is the biggest reason why Wilfork understands why some can’t buy the Giants as underdog. The Patriots are favored from anywhere between three and four points in Super Bowl XLVI.

“I would see why people would say they need to be favored –they’re a heck of a ball club,” Wilfork said. “It seems like the later in the season it gets, the better they get. They peak at the right time. I understand and trust me, I see the same thing that they see. I watch film a little bit more in depth than those guys and the Giants are a real good football team. They’re coached very well and they have playmakers everywhere.
What impresses Manning’s counterpart so much is his toughness. Tom Brady has watched Manning stand in the pocket and pay the price to get the ball where it needs to go.”

Tom Brady and Patriots owner Robert Kraft share a private moment after the AFC championship. (AP)

FOXBORO — You could tell it in the simple tone of his voice.

Tom Brady was ticked off Thursday when asked about his now-famous “apology” to Patriots owner Robert Kraft, in which he said he was sorry for his performance in the AFC championship win over the Ravens and his promise to “play better” in two weeks in Indianapolis.

“I’m always trying to play better,” Brady said. “I think every player on this team is trying to play better every week. I’m glad we won that game. I’m glad we’re sitting in this position now. I think a lot of guys played really well and that’s what it’s going to take again this week.

“I always have private conversations with Mr. Kraft that are supposed to be private but I guess they’re not.”

NFL Films cameras routinely pick up candid conversations on the field following a game, with some showing up like they did on the “Inside the NFL” program on Showtime on Wednesday night.

Brady acknowledged the pressure of the Super Bowl but also embraced the chance to live up to the expectations of the Krafts and all Patriots fans.

“I think there’s pressure for every player,” Brady said. “It’s not necessarily me, and there’s certainly pressure on me, there’s pressure on the coaches, the players and we’re expected to do our job at a very high level. You go into this game where you’re playing your toughest opponent. There’s only two teams that are still going. There’s certainly a finality to this game, you’re putting absolutely everything into it, preparation-wise and you’re expected to go out there and play at your very best, and there’s no reason you shouldn’t because we’ve had 110 practices and this is our 23rd game of the year. It’s pretty incredible when you think of a real long football season.

“We have experience, we’ve seen a lot, this is the third time we’ll be playing this team, preseason, regular season and postseason so there’s some familiarity with them. Everyone should be excited and ready to go out and play our best game.”

Of course, everyone in the stadium recalls Brady telling the crowd on the AFC championship podium that he “sucked pretty bad” and thanked the defense for picking him up and helping the Patriots to a 23-20 win over the Ravens.

With Brady throwing an interception immediately after Brandon Spikes‘ pick to stop a drive, the star quarterback failed to convert a first down that would’ve sealed the game. Instead, the defense stopped the Ravens with less than 20 seconds remaining and then Brady was bailed out when Billy Cundiff hooked a 32-yard field goal attempt wide left with 11 seconds remaining.

Will he be ready to put his best foot forward and make good on that private promise to Kraft?

“I hope I do,” Brady said. “I go out there and you try to be at your very best in the biggest game. My teammates really count on that, certainly I count on that. There’s a lot of preparation that goes into that. Playing with confidence and anticipation and understanding the game plan and going out and executing it when it matters the most. That’s what it’s going to take. It’s a great team that we’re playing; everyone is going to need to be at their best.”

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ — Probably you already knew that Bill Belichick (secondary) and Tom Coughlin (receivers) coached together with the Giants under Bill Parcells. Three Super Bowls (soon to be four) and seven conference titles later, the two rank slightly ahead of Ray Handley on the Tuna Coaching Tree.

Earlier this week, Belichick gave Coughlin the Ed Reed treatment, calling the former Boston College and Jacksonville coach “a good friend” and that has an NFL coach he “has stood the test of time.”

On Thursday it was Coughlin — a semi-ringer for Ron Howard’s dad –  who penned a power ballad to his opposing Super Bowl coach.

“I didn’t have any doubt that he would,” Coughlin said when asked if he thought Belichick would be a successful NFL head coach one day when the two worked together in New York. “He stared very young and advanced with lots of responsibility at a young age and was constantly preparing himself for what was coming later for him. I didn’t have any question about the detailed, meticulous work Bill did when he was here and the process that he went through when preparing his defensive team.”

Coughlin used the word “exceptional” three times to describe Belichick’s work as Patriots head coach on Thursday, and noted his ability to coach both sides of the ball despite having earned his reputation as a defensive mind. He was asked about his relationship with Belichick in New York.

“We worked very well together, and I think that’s the thing that is most important when you evaluate that time in our lives,” Coughlin said. “We cooperated well, we did an awful lot together, never stopped. I can remember Parcells saying, “Again?” We did work well together, we discussed things back and forth. It was a good time, it was a good time.”

Bill Belichick

At his weekly press conference Thursday, Bill Belichick talked about the familiarity between the Patriots and Giants, the availability of Sebastian Vollmer, Eli Manning‘s strong year, and the intangibles Brandon Spikes brings to New England’s defense.

Following are some highlights.

On the familiarity with the Giants: “There is no team we’re more familiar in the NFC than the Giants. We play them every year. Twice in ’07 and this will be three times this season. A lot of those were in the preseason, but still there is a familiarity keeping up with a team every year as opposed to a lot of other teams who we see once every three years. At least there is sort of an annual review of the Giants. I don’t think it is like a division game but we know them a lot better than most NFC teams.”

On Sebastian Vollmer’s status: “We’ll see how it goes. [Vollmer] practiced some last week and wasn’t able to go. He’ll practice this week. The crystal ball is clouding up…If he’s ready, he’s ready. If Sebastian is ready he could really help our football team. There’s no question.”

On the Giants offense and Eli Manning: “When they have to throw it , they throw it. When they have to run it, they run it. And that’s the mark of a good offense. … Eli has done a good job not turning the ball over, hitting big plays, and converting on third downs. Their third down conversion numbers are significantly up from the regular season, playing against better teams. He can hurt you with his legs. Not that he’s looking to run for a 100 yards or anything but converting on third downs, scrambling out of the pocket, and keeping plays alive. We’ve seen that before. He’s done a good job. He has a lot of skill and spreads the ball around. And he wins and that’s a quarterback’s job: to manage a game and win.”

On Brandon Spikes: “Brandon is a very instinctive player. He catches on quickly. He just knows where the ball is. Sometimes it is not exactly the way you would coach it in terms of what keys and footwork would be, but he has a good ability to find the ball and know where the play is. … He is tall like Pepper [Johnson] was. You don’t see a lot of inside linebackers with that kind of height. Most guys are a little more compact than that. That’s a problem for a quarterback because of their length, their height, and range. They get their hands on a lot of balls. Like Pepper, Brandon plays with power. He gives us a different presence in there.”