Brady turning into toast of the Pro Bowl

HONOLULU - Lono did yesterday afternoon what no mortal has been able to do to Tom Brady since November.
The Hawaiian sun god burned him good.
''I was laying out by the pool at the hotel and my back got it,'' said the 24-year-old Super Bowl MVP. ''I'm fair-skinned. Well, rookie mistake. Rookie mistake.''
You can be sure Lono won't blindside Brady again. ''I'm going to wear an SPF 45 lotion, or whatever's the strongest number,'' he said.
But the burn didn't hinder Brady at his first full-scale AFC practice yesterday morning at Aloha Stadium for tomorrow's Pro Bowl. ''It doesn't feel bad,'' he said. ''After all this playing, your body gets calloused.'' Brady looked sharp, drilling completions to the sidelines and over the middle. Only one of his passes was dropped all morning. Nor did the sunburn allay his enthusiasm for the excellent adventure that's yet to end. Despite persistent chants of ''We want Brady'' from the practice spectators and his status as the hottest NFL property, Brady remains impressed with the company he's keeping this week.
Before coach Bill Cowher called the AFC squad out to the field, Brady sat before his locker and looked at the faces passing before him. ''Man, I'm a big fan of all these guys in this locker room,'' he said. ''Junior Seau, John Randle, Rich Gannon ...'' Suddenly, Brady turned to his left to exchange grins with the Oakland Raiders quarterback, whose heart he broke Jan. 19 in the snows of Foxborough, Mass. ''He's a great guy,'' said Brady.
Brady held a Pro Bowl souvenir helmet Gannon presented him Tuesday. Scrawled on it were the autographs of other AFC stars sharing the locker room. But what Brady called ''pretty neat'' was the fact that many of those players approached him first to sign their helmets. ''But I'm right back at them to sign mine,'' said Brady. Once again he used Beaver Cleaver's favorite four-letter word. ''It's a neat memento,'' he said.
Occupying the locker to Brady's right is another quarterback he and the Patriots sent packing in the playoffs - Pittsburgh's Kordell Stewart. Despite being bounced by the Patriots, Gannon and Stewart have become big brothers to Brady the past two days. ''I still hate him,'' said a laughing Gannon, 11 years the New England signal-caller's senior. ''Nah, nah, he's a class act and fun to be around this week.''
Stewart said he grew fond of Brady's Mayberry RFD candor right away. ''He's the same in person as he is on TV,'' said Stewart, who is five years older than Brady. ''What you see is what you get. That's a good sign because you don't get a chance to meet many guys who can be so laid-back after winning the big game. Some guys come out with an attitude.''
New York Jets center Kevin Mawae said Brady seems to still have ''that wide-eyed look.''
Tennessee defensive end Jevon Kearse said he's liked Brady since he met him just before the Super Bowl. ''I asked him, `What's up, how you gonna do in the Super Bowl?' and he looked at me with this real intense look and said, `Man, we're gonna mess them up.' I liked him right away. He's a player.''
Brady, who earlier in the day said he was unimpressed with the behavior of adult spectators who push aside children to get his autograph, turned his attention to a special group of youngsters after practice.
In a scene the NFL would probably like to frame, Brady curtailed autograph signing for boisterous fans hanging over the sideline wall and sprinted toward a group of 14 youngsters from the Make-A-Wish Foundation. He immediately dropped to his knees outside the locker room and held eye-to-eye conversations with each of the children. Some were in wheelchairs, some on crutches, and others with artificial limbs. Interacting with them visibly moved the quarterback.
''We've been blessed with so much, and to see those kids who have not been nearly as fortunate ...'' said Brady, taking a breath and pausing a second. ''I mean, they're so cute. They're just little kids who want loving and attention, and they deserve it like everybody else. I wouldn't mind doing anything for those kids.'' Brady's first encounter was with Chris McMahon, a 15-year-old Wisconsin resident in a wheelchair who was wearing Brady's No. 12 jersey.
''That's a great shirt!'' said Brady, touching the fabric and then picking up the boy's football to sign it.
''He told me even though I'm from Badger country I'd better start being a Michigan fan for him,'' said McMahon with a smile.
''He's a true gentleman in every sense of the word,'' said Cowher of Brady. ''He's a great kid.''
This story ran on page E2 of the Boston Globe on 2/8/2002.