FOXBORO -- Years from now, when Patriots fans reminisce about the great Tom Brady, they'll talk fondly of his three (and perhaps more) Super Bowl victories. They'll recall how he was MVP in (at least) two of those games. They'll remember how he took advantage of the ``tuck'' rule to beat the Raiders in the swirling snow in the last game ever played in the old Foxboro Stadium. They'll talk about his pinpoint passing under pressure, and rave about his unerring accuracy and clutch performances with the game on the line.

None of those things, however, will be the lead item on Brady's personal highlight reel.

Instead, he'll talk about the time he scrambled past Hall of Fame linebacker Brian Urlacher for a first down that kept alive the game-winning drive in a 17-13 win over the Chicago Bears the Sunday after Thanksgiving in 2006 at Gillette Stadium.

``That was pretty cool,'' he said. ``At least I can tell my kids one day that I shook Brian Urlacher. They probably won't believe me.''

Brady has done some pretty unbelievable things in his seven seasons in New England, but eluding Urlacher on a third-down scramble ranks right up there near the top of the list.

On a team known as the Monsters of the Midway, Urlacher is as monstrous as they come -- a fearsome player reminiscent of such great Chicago middle linebackers as Dick Butkus and Mike Singletary.

Brady, on the other hand, as Patriots linebacker Larry Izzo pointed out, ``won't remind anyone of Gale Sayers.''

Instead of the Galloping Ghost, Brady is more like the Awkward Apparition.

``We've got offensive linemen,'' Tedy Bruschi said with a laugh, ``who are more elusive than Tom.''

Patriots center Dan Koppen would include himself in that category.

``I'm probably a better runner than he is,'' the 296-pound Koppen said. ``I turned around just in time to see him put on the slowest move I've ever seen. I was surprised to see it from a kid who can't run out of sight in a week.''

Brady will never be called ``Crazy Legs'' or ``Swivel Hips.'' He'll never be confused with such renowned scramblers as Michael Vick, or Fran Tarkenton, or recent teammate Doug Flutie.

``He's more like Dan Marino,'' said Pats fullback Heath Evans.

Like Marino, Brady is a great passer, but not a great runner.

Brady scrambling past Urlacher is like Earl Boykins dunking over Shaquille O'Neal, or Alex Cora hitting one out against Johan Santana. It is the equivalent of a guy driving a Mini-Cooper winning the Indy 500, or the Jamaican bobsled team actually winning a gold medal.

The score was tied, 10-10, in the fourth quarter. The Pats, after moving into Chicago territory on a beautifully thrown 40-yard completion from Brady to tight end Ben Watson, were facing third-and-9 at the Bears' 26.

``I looked to Ben,'' Brady said. ``I looked for Troy (Brown). Then I saw the middle open up, and I just ran. Brian was standing there in front of me. I did the best I could to make sure he didn't hit me.''

How, Brady was asked, would he describe the move that left Urlacher grasping only air?

``An un-coordinated stutter step,'' he said, smiling sheepishly. ``I'm not the most athletic guy. He probably thought I'd slide. I might have put him to sleep.''

As it turns out, Urlacher did think Brady was going to hit the dirt.

``I thought he was going to go down,'' Urlacher admitted. ``I thought he was going to slide. It was a good play by him.''

Brady said he never thought of sliding, never considered playing it safe.

``I knew we needed nine yards,'' he said. ``If I slid, I would have been three or four yards short and my teammates would have killed me.''

On the other hand, there was a very real possibility that Urlacher would do him serious harm.

``It's not what we want him doing,'' Evans said of Brady's open-field running. ``But he gets it done when he needs to. He's the best.''

An argument could be made that Urlacher is the best linebacker in the NFL. Which is why it's so astounding that Brady made him miss.

``He juked me,'' said Urlacher, ``and they ended up scoring on the drive. If I make the play, it ends up being fourth-and-3. But I didn't make the play, and he did.''

Brady's known for making plays with his arm, not his feet. He beats people with his brains and his guts, not his legs.

``He's a football player,'' coach Bill Belichick said. ``He's a competitor.''

Brady's competitive juices were flowing like the Niagara River over the American Falls in that fourth quarter.

After picking up 11 yards on the scramble past Urlacher, he jumped to his feet and emphatically signaled ``first down'' -- pointing toward the Chicago end zone, where he put the Patriots five plays later, fooling the Bears defense with a play-action fake and lobbing a 2-yard TD pass a wide-open Watson.

That short scoring toss was set up by another Brady run on third down, this time a quarterback sneak on third-and-2 that gained 3 yards to the 3.

``He was just doing what he had to do,'' Pats running back Kevin Faulk said. ``He was letting his teammates know how much he wants to win.''

His defensive teammates want Brady to know he'd never get away with scrambling like that against them.

``Tom would never fake me out,'' linebacker Rosevelt Colvin said, laughing. ``You can tell him I said that.''

Even Urlacher could laugh about it afterward.

``We were laughing,'' Brady said. ``He said: `Man, you made me look bad.' I said: `You make our whole team look bad.' He's a great player.''

So is Brady, who, for one game, was as great a runner as he is a passer.