Tom Brady. No, the other Tom Brady.

He graduated from Harvard, not the University of Michigan. His game? Directing Hollywood movies, not fourth-quarter touchdown drives. We're referring, of course, to screenwriter-director-producer Tom Brady, whose new film "The Comebacks" opens nationwide Friday. "The Comebacks" is a football-themed comedy that spoofs inspirational sports movies like "We Are Marshall" and "Remember the Titans." Because here in New England fans think of Tom Brady as an inspirational sports movie, it seemed like a propitious time to check in with someone who walks the red carpet wearing "The Other Tom Brady" tag pinned to his tuxedo.

This Brady is 43, grew up in Bayonne, N.J., and broke into show business as an actor prior to earning writing and producing credits on shows like "Home Improvement," "The Simpsons," and "Sports Night." He also wrote and coproduced "The Animal," wrote and directed "The Hot Chick" - both films starring Rob Schneider - and is slated to direct the big-screen version of "Welcome Back, Kotter."

Q. Did your being Tom Brady give you an inside track to directing "The Comebacks"?

A. I like to think I got the job because of my resume and my directing talents. However, I know on some level there was a Fox executive saying, "How great would it be if Tom Brady directed this movie?" And I did wear my Brady jersey to the studio meeting.

Q. When did the other Tom Brady first cross your radar screen?

A. Around eight years ago. I was listening to a Michigan game on the radio and heard, "Coming into the game is backup quarterback Tom Brady." I was a big-time TV writer and thought of myself as the famous Tom Brady. What were the odds this guy would ever play pro football? I'll never have to worry about changing my name, I thought. A couple of years and one Super Bowl MVP later, I realized I had no shot at being the Tom Brady everyone knows.

Q. Have you always been a football fan?

A. Absolutely. A big college football fan and gigantic NFL fan. While I'm a Giants fan at heart, I never miss a minute of the Patriots' games. Maybe because I like hearing "Tom Brady is the greatest quarterback who ever lived!" over and over again.

Q. When was the first time you got confused with what's his name?

A. A limo came to pick me up for a screening of "The Hot Chick." The driver was a 70-year-old guy holding a card that read "Tom Brady" with trembling hands. I'm about the same height and weight as Brady, although not exactly in the same proportion. Plus, I've got a ponytail. The driver grabbed my hand and said, "Sir, I've been a football fan for 50 years, and what you did last year was the greatest performance I've ever seen." Part of me said, I just can't break his heart. So I played along with it. Things got a little hairy, though, when he started quoting my college football stats.

Q. Had he ever seen the other Tom Brady without his helmet on?

A. I'm sure he had. He must have thought I'd grown a beard and ponytail during the offseason. Or maybe he was too old to see very well. Which made me nervous, because he was driving the limo.

Q. Does anyone with normal eyesight actually confuse the two of you?

A. Not often. Tom now has Hollywood representation, though, so my agent gets a lot of calls meant for him. I get his mail sometimes, too.

Q. What kind of mail?

A. Oh, like a year's supply of protein shakes. Which were delicious, by the way. A jeans company once called asking if I'd be interested in wearing their product. When they asked what my waist size was, I said, "Thirty-eight." They coughed and said, "Uh, did you say, 'Twenty-eight?" No, I said. A 38-inch waist. That ended that. I never did get the jeans, either.

Q. Has the "I'm Tom Brady" line opened any doors to, say, dating supermodels?

A. If friends are in a bar and say to some woman, "Do you know who that is? It's Tom Brady!" I'll sometimes get that look like: Could it be? But I've never successfully used that line socially, no.

Q. Have you met the other TB?

A. No. When "Hot Chick" was out, I flew to Boston for a Patriots home game, but our meeting never came off. I also had Super Bowl tickets a couple of years ago, but I had to give them away. I know some people he knows, and I know he knows of me, so hopefully it will happen someday.

Q. Did you consider casting him in "The Comebacks"?

A. I did. Unfortunately, the NFL season was underway. The league doesn't give its blessing to many football movies anyway, and ours takes some shots at them.

Q. Any negatives to the name sharing?

A. Only that he casts a big shadow. He's like the perfect male. As a writer-director in Hollywood, though, having your name out there is a big part of your career. And five months a year, everyone walks around saying my name whether I have a movie coming out or not.

Q. Better to be named Tom Brady than Steven Spielberg?

A. No, maybe not. Then again if you were a quarterback named Steven Spielberg, it might not work to your advantage so much.

Q. So you're content to be known as The Other Tom Brady?

A. Yes, and let me add that in many ways we're very much alike. He yells "hut!" I yell "cut!" He dodges vicious linebackers. I dodge vicious film critics. I complete over 75 percent of my jokes. And we both hope to open big this Sunday.

Joseph P. Kahn can be reached at jkahn@globe.com.