Troy Brown wasn't the star of this show, not this time around.

But that was no problem Tuesday for the veteran wide receiver of the New England Patriots, who sat in a molded plastic seat a few rows up from field level in the lower bowl of University of Phoenix Stadium and watched a sea of humanity milling about the floor of the brand-new stadium. Whether he was center stage or just a bit player, he was still there - and that was just fine with him.

"When you look as so many players that come through this league and never get an opportunity to be here at a Media Day, let alone to be here for the game, and I've been able to be here five times for all of this, it's just amazing. I'm just as happy as I am now as I was the first time," said the 15th-year veteran from Marshall, one of just two Patriots still on the roster who went to New Orleans on Jan. 26, 1997, for the first Super Bowl appearance of what Patriots' owner Robert Kraft likes to call "the modern era."

Brown wasn't active for that game; a groin pull put him on the inactive list. Twelve years later, many still believe he might have had a chance to stop Desmond Howard from breaking a kick return that gave the Green Bay Packers the upper hand in Super Bowl XXXI if he had been in his usual role on kickoff coverage.

Brown didn't lack for action in the Patriots' more recent Super Bowls.

In Super Bowl XXXVI against the Rams, he was the team's leading receiver with six catches for 89 yards and was Tom Brady's favorite receiver on the memorable last possession leading to Adam Vinatieri's game-winning, 48-yard field goal. He was the second-leading Patriot receiver with eight catches for 76 yards (behind Deion Branch's 10-143 effort) in Super Bowl XXXVIII against the Panthers.

And the next year in Jacksonville against Philadelphia, Brown contributed in all three phases of the game - as a wide receiver on offense, as a nickel back on defense and as a punt returner.

But now, Brown is at risk of completing the circle of his career. With Randy Moss, Wes Welker, Jabar Gaffney and Donté Stallworth well entrenched ahead of him on the depth chart, Brown may find himself inactive for Super Bowl XLII against the Giants, just as he was for the AFC Championship Game against San Diego.

If the 36-year-old Brown is bitter, he's hiding it well.

"It's been great," he said Tuesday during the "Media Day" interview period at the host stadium. "The average career lasts, what, three or four years? And I've been in this uniform for 15 years. Not very many people can say that. And it's been 15 great years, too. I've experienced a lot of winning, a lot of these championships here and a lot of these Media Days. It's been a great feeling for me."

Following knee surgery last season, Brown started the year on the physically-unable-to-perform reserve list. He played in only one game after that, and for the first time since the 1994 season, he registered no catches in the regular season.

It's fair to assume that this might be the last hurrah for Brown - but what a hurrah it might be if the Patriots complete a 19-0 season and lay claim to being the best NFL team of all time.

Yet as he sat in his stadium seat with just five reporters in close proximity, Brown remained true to the "Patriot Way" by claiming that he, like his teammates, has not given a lot of thought to the bigger picture of what a win over the Giants would mean.

"You think about winning the next game," he said. "You can't help but see it, and you know what your record is at the end of the year, but you just concentrate on winning the next game. The next game is huge, and we've got to win. That's how you've got to approach it we've got to win that next game, and whatever the next game brings with it. That's what you have to deal with. "I know I will feel great, just knowing that we won the Super Bowl," he said. "That means going 19-0, and whatever else you all want to say about us, I'll live with it. Hopefully it will be something good."

In the intimate surrounding of a small media gathering, Brown admitted that he knows the end may be near - but then again, given the physical nature of the game he has played so well for so long, it's always been near.

"Any time you step out on the football field, there's a good chance it's going to be your last football game," he said. "But I don't really think about it. I just live my life one day at a time, and it's the same way I play this game. I'm looking forward to going to practice tomorrow and getting ready for the big game on Sunday, and whatever else happens, happens.

"Part of whether my career goes on is up to me, and part of it is up to this team," he said. "I know I can control my part of it, but I can't control the other part of it. I'm just looking forward to going out tomorrow and having a good day of practice, and hopefully I'll be able to put it on the football field this coming Sunday."

He also admitted that the Patriots' current run of success has become addictive - and a hard habit to break.

"It never gets old," he said. "You look at all of the guys like Dan Marino, and Cris Carter Cris Carter never made it and Dan Marino made it once early in his career and never made it back. Great as those players were, they can't say they've been to this thing more than one time.

"This is what we all start the season training for, is to get here," he said. "When you make it, you're happy and it's a great feeling and then when you win it, it's even better. That's why I come back every year, to have a chance to be here."

MARK FARINELLA may be reached at 508-236-0315 or via e-mail at mfarinel@thesunchronicle.com