Last modified: Saturday, May 12, 2007 11:49 PM EDT Tom Brady is in the prime of his career. (Staff photo by KEITH NORDSTROM) FARINELLA: Time flies when you're having fun BY MARK FARINELLA SUN CHRONICLE STAFF Something scary dawned upon me the other day. I realized that I am seven years older than I was on a day not unlike today, when I met a skinny quarterback from Michigan for the first time and asked him if he knew Attleboro's Leland Anderson. He did not. It's safe to say that Tom Brady has filled out a little since he was an unheralded sixth-round draft choice, appearing before the assembled media for the first time in the old Foxboro Stadium's "Stadium Club." It's also safe to say that he has exceeded the expectations anyone had for him - anyone, save for Patriots' coach Bill Belichick and his quarterbacks coach, the late Dick Rehbein, who had scouted Brady at Michigan. Three Super Bowl championships, two Super Bowl MVP selections, one Hollywood starlet ex-girlfriend, one current supermodel galpal and a whole lot of wins later, Brady has become a New England icon. Some call him the best quarterback in the game, and even those who don't believe it still have to put him near the top of the list (albeit grudgingly), on at least the same level as the other legitimate candidate for that title, Indianapolis' Peyton Manning. And in the space of one dizzying offseason, Brady and the Patriots appear to have reloaded themselves for a run at a fourth Super Bowl title. Yes, indeed, these are the halcyon days of New England Patriots football. But those days could be a lot closer to the end than most New Englanders would care to believe. That's not alarmist nonsense. It's not a suggestion that Brady, entering his eighth NFL season, is slipping. If anything, Brady was better than ever last season. He may not have been throwing the ball as well as he had in the past, and he didn't get a lot of help from a junior varsity receiving corps, but his leadership and savvy were at the root of his team's unexpected advancement to within just a few minutes of play of Super Bowl XLI. Brady hasn't missed a start since he took over for the injured Drew Bledsoe two games into the 2001 season, which is nothing short of remarkable. The law of averages aren't on his side for staying as healthy as he enters his 30s (he'll be 30 on Aug. 3), but again, this isn't alarmist nonsense. You can't predict injuries, so that's not the reason why I'm suggesting that the Brady Era may be in its sunset years. I'm reminded that Bledsoe was entering his ninth NFL season when everything came crashing down around him. Once deified as the savior of the franchise and now generally (and unfairly) vilified for not having accomplished what Brady has, Bledsoe's career took a 180-degree turn when the Jets' Mo Lewis buried his helmet and shoulder pads into his chest and sent him to Mass. General with life-threatening internal bleeding. If Bledsoe had somehow sidestepped the full impact of Lewis' hit, who knows what course history might have taken? What Brady and the Patriots accomplished thereafter has made for a lot of great memories. And it has made Brady a rich man - although he probably could have been a lot richer if he had demanded to be. Two years ago, he was rewarded with a six-year, $60 million contract that made him very comfortable, but didn't prevent the Patriots from having salary cap room to keep the nucleus of a winning team together. Ever concerned with keeping a level of talent around him, Brady recently agreed to restructure that contract to facilitate the signing of wide receiver Randy Moss. Because the Patriots had to absorb the cap hit of Moss' existing two-year contract with the Raiders before he renegotiated it to a one-year pact worth $2.5 million (with a roster bonus and incentives that could bring it to $5 million), Brady accepted a reduction of this year's base salary to $720,000. Don't worry, folks. No one in the Brady Inner Circle will be going hungry because of that. The Patriots shifted the rest of this year's $6 million tab to bonus money. He's getting the same payday, just distributed differently. There were ripple effects from the restructuring. According to figures that appeared on ESPN.com, Brady's salary cap number shrunk to approximately $7.4 million this year (from more than $11 million), but it goes up in each of the remaining seasons leading to the pact's expiration in 2010. In 2008 alone, the report said, Brady's cap hit will be about $14.6 million. If next year's cap reaches $116 million per team, as is anticipated, Brady alone would account for 12.58 percent of the Patriots' allotment. "Well worth the price," is what most of you are saying, and I agree. But keep in mind one reality of life in the NFL. At some point, and it's different for every player, skills begin to erode and productivity slips. Bledsoe was posting Hall of Fame-worthy numbers before 2001, yet his shortcomings were magnified with alarming speed once he hit the Big Three-Oh. Entering his eighth season, Brady may be teetering upon the edge of his prime. His value to the team is still assured, and it's safe to assume he will rework his contract a few more times before it's up. The Patriots may even have to tear it up altogether and give him a longer pact to keep it cap-friendly. And if he wins another Super Bowl with the weapons he's been given this year? The Brinks truck will be parked outside his Manhattan apartment. But in 2010, Brady will be 33 years old. A lot of attention will be paid to how well he plays and how he's trending over the next few years, and make no mistake - regardless of Bill Belichick's obvious fondness for his quarterback, if Belichick is still in charge and he sees signs that Brady's skills don't match his cap number, a change will be made. Maybe it won't be as sudden and as ignominious as Bledsoe's departure, but it will happen. There's always the possibility, too, that Belichick won't be the one to pull the trigger. He'll be 58 in 2010, and may have decided by then that he has no more mountains to climb. And there's always the possibility that Brady might shock us all and last 18 seasons like Dan Marino, or 16 like John Elway. The point of all this speculation? As I was reminded the other day, time flies when you're having fun. It hardly seems like seven years have passed since Brady first set foot in Foxboro, and it will seem like another blink of an eye on the day his retirement is announced - a day that's probably a lot closer than many of us would care to believe. That's more than enough reason to savor the moment, and to fully appreciate what's happening in Foxboro right now - because before you know it, it will be the stuff of memories. MARK FARINELLA may be reached at 508-236-0315 or via e-mail at mfarinel@thesunchronicle.com.