Jan 31, 2008

Serra's hometown hero

Students at Serra High send Super Bowl quarterback Tom Brady a 'human text message'

By Melissa McRobbie / Daily News Staff Writer

Hundreds of students lined up on the field at San Mateo's Serra High on Wednesday to send a message to campus grad Tom Brady as he prepares to lead his New England Patriots to the Super Bowl this weekend.

"Over 500 students went out onto our football field and spelled out 'Beat the Giants,'" said Michelle Wilkinson, director of public relations for Serra. They called it a "human text message," she said.

Juniors and seniors who wanted to participate were told to wear white T-shirts to school Wednesday and to gather at the field at lunchtime.

A helicopter flown by Hiller Aviation Museum volunteer and Brady family neighbor Cameron Rolfe hovered overhead with a photographer on board.

Willie Turner, vice president of operations for the Hiller museum, stood on the field with a radio, receiving instructions from the helicopter -- things like "move the 'E' over."

At one point, it became clear that the juniors and seniors weren't enough to spell the message, so sophomores and freshmen were invited to join.

"It's a big process but it turned out real well," Turner said.

Mike Peterson, who works in development at Serra, said the idea was a hit with students at the all-boys Catholic school. "The kids loved it."

Peterson was Tom Brady's principal "many moons ago," he said.

He said the record-breaking NFL quarterback, who graduated from Serra in 1995, was a good student and keeps in touch. "He communicates regularly with a number of faculty. He takes a moment just to send us back an e-mail."

In fact, he said, it was Brady who chose Wednesday's "Beat the Giants" message.

Serra organized a similar event in 2005 when the Patriots beat the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl, school officials said. That was the year after Brady donated his Super Bowl XXXVIII MVP Cadillac to the school, which auctioned it off at a fundraiser.

Wilkinson said the white T-shirts combined with the natural light Wednesday gave the message the hue of the Patriots' jerseys.

"It kind of has a blue tint to it, which looks really cool in the picture," she said.


E-mail Melissa McRobbie at mmcrobbie@dailynewsgroup.com.