EW ORLEANS, Feb. 4 — Tom Brady slipped on the cloak of stardom this morning while he was still bleary-eyed from a long night of celebrating the Patriots' 20-17 Super Bowl victory over the Rams. He got his own milk ad, even if the photo makes him look like Jeff George. He bantered with reporters. He got the keys to a new Cadillac. And he went to Disney World this afternoon, before returning home to the Boston area for a victory parade on Tuesday.

It is rarefied air that Brady, 24, breathes now. He is the youngest quarterback to win the Super Bowl, younger than even Joe Namath and Joe Montana, who were both 25 when they won (with Montana going on to win three more). Through it all today, the carefree confidence that led Brady and the Patriots on their improbable joy ride shone through, as much an indication as any as to how a player who attempted three passes last season could be the Super Bowl's most valuable player this season.

"So much has changed with being the starting quarterback and dealing with a lot of the off-the-field stuff," Brady said at this morning's news conference. "There are so many distractions when you get to this point. The emotional ride, it's been, as far as I'm concerned, straight up. There hasn't been a downer yet. Except this morning at about 6 o'clock when the alarm went off. But other than that, it's been pretty awesome."

Barton Silverman/The New York Times Tom Brady recalled attending the 1981 N.F.C. championship game with his mother, Galynn, and father, Tom.

Indeed, the entire season was pretty awesome for the Patriots, who played their finest game against the heavily favored Rams. Brady's numbers did not have to be overwhelming (he completed 16 of 27 passes for 145 yards against St. Louis) because the Patriots' defense, particularly the secondary, provided the rest of the N.F.L. with a blueprint on how to stop the Rams.

The Patriots decided that they would not blitz as heavily as they did when the two teams met during the regular season, preferring to concentrate on their coverage. That meant they would need huge performances from cornerbacks Ty Law and Otis Smith. They got them.
New England Coach Bill Belichick frequently employed schemes with as many as seven defensive backs on the field and it resulted in Rams quarterback Kurt Warner never getting into a rhythm. The devastating coverage — and the emphasis on forcing turnovers — allowed the Patriots' offense to play a largely conservative game.

Brady fulfilled his part of the bargain. He still has another year remaining on a rookie contract that paid him $298,000 this season, and he spent the early part of last week fielding questions about whether he would be able to play in the Super Bowl on a sprained left ankle. That, in turn, renewed a season-long issue — the role of Drew Bledsoe, the franchise quarterback who became Brady's backup after being injured.

In Sunday's Super Bowl, Brady did not even reach the 100-yard passing mark until the game's climactic drive. But the poise with which Brady directed the final drive — so reminiscent of his fourth-quarter performance against the Raiders on Jan. 19 — indicated that he was unlikely to be a one-season sensation.

After the Rams scored the touchdown that tied the score, 17-17, with 1 minute 30 seconds remaining, Belichick and his offensive coordinator, Charlie Weis, told Brady that they wanted to go for the victory, and to get a two-minute drive going. The first play of the drive began with 1:21 remaining and no timeouts remaining for either team. Brady completed five passes in the drive for all of the 53 yards it covered. As he watched Adam Vinatieri's 48-yard field goal go up, Brady was thinking that he did not want to head into overtime against the Rams.

He did not have to. Brady finished the game with the glow of a champion. Today, the questions about his ankle and his relationship with Bledsoe were replaced with queries about his favorite ride at Disney World and whether he is ready for the endorsement offers sure to follow.

"I'm working on it," Brady said. "It's new to me. I'm like a kite in the wind, just going with the flow. I don't know what I was doing last year at this time, but I wasn't standing at the podium answering questions at eight in the morning."

Nobody could have imagined, even a year ago, that Brady would be here now. He was a scrawny sixth-round draft pick who was the Patriots' fourth quarterback. Belichick and the Patriots' late quarterbacks coach, Dick Rehbein, told Brady he had to build his body strength and work on his throwing mechanics.

But by the time training camp rolled around in 2001, Belichick already suspected that Brady was the best quarterback on the team. He had put on muscle and worked on his speed. He improved so much that he was named the most improved quarterback or running back. That earned him a preferred parking space at camp, where he parked a canary yellow car. It may be replaced by a Cadillac truck this fall.

"I'm not sure I've seen any player improve as much as Tom has," Belichick said. "When he came to training camp, right away everybody saw the dramatic improvement."

Now Brady is among the great playmakers in Super Bowl history. As Brady left his news conference, the M.V.P. trophy in hand, he motioned to his parents, who were seated in the back of the room, to join him. It was fitting, since Brady and his family attended another of the greatest games in N.F.L. history. As a 4-year-old, Brady and his parents went to the 1981 National Football Conference championship game at Candlestick Park, near their home in San Mateo, Calif. It was the game made famous by Dwight Clark's touchdown reception, known as the Catch. It gave the 49ers the victory and their first trip to the Super Bowl.

"I remember that game a little bit," Brady said. "My parents remind me that I cried the whole first half because they wouldn't buy me one of those little one fingers that stuck up. But I remember when he made that catch and it was just pandemonium. When you watch a winning team like that, the love for being part of a team really moves me. And that's when I realized I wanted to be a football player — going to all those games growing up. I'm glad I chose this as to what I wanted to do."

So are the Patriots.