FOXBORO, Mass. – He’s a quarterback drafted in the sixth round by the New England Patriots. In college, he showed an accurate arm and leadership.

That was Tom Brady in 2000. This year it’s Kliff Kingsbury.

“His story is motivating for anybody, to do what he did and is still doing,” Kingsbury said of Brady. “It’s definitely an inspiration.”

Brady went from backup in 2000 to Super Bowl MVP after the 2001 season to solid starter in 2002.

In those three years, Kingsbury threw 91 scoring passes in Texas Tech’s pass-oriented offense, 45 of them last year. In four seasons there, he threw for 95 touchdowns and 12,429 yards with a 65.4 completion percentage.

He is one of just four college players to throw for at least 3,000 yards in three different seasons. And as a senior, he averaged 34 completions in 51 attempts for 358 yards.

“It’s a lot of fun,” said Kingsbury, drafted last Sunday. “You get to throw it every play and have great receivers to throw to.”

He threw the ball for the first time at Gillette Stadium on Friday when the Patriots began a three-day rookie minicamp.

“I think a lot of the short passing game that they run is similar to what we ran at Texas Tech,” Kingsbury said. “There’s some rough spots, everybody trying to get on the same page, but it’s always fun to play football.”

Besides Brady, the Patriots have Damon Huard and Rohan Davey at quarterback. Davey was drafted in the fourth round last season, while Huard played in two games in two seasons with New England without throwing a pass.

Kingsbury can spend the year learning without pressure of having to play.

“I can learn under one of the best in the league,” he said.

He thought he might be drafted by the Patriots after he felt he had a good workout for quarterbacks coach John Hufnagel.

“I think they felt like I was a good fit for the system so it’s just going to take some time for me to get used to it,” he said.

Patriots coach Bill Belichick and Hufnagel haven’t told him if they have long-term goals for him, Kingsbury said.

“He’s a pretty good prospect,” Belichick said. “Kliff’s got the ability to manage the team, at least he’s shown that in college. He can throw the ball. He has pretty good quickness.”

Now he must get used to bigger, faster defensive linemen and greater overall tempo of the pro game. He played primarily in a shotgun formation last season after playing under center the previous two years.

“I’ve seen a lot of different defenses and made a lot of different throws, having passed as much as we did,” Kingsbury said. “So I think any time you do that, it’s going to help you in a system like this, but this system is brand new to me and I’m still trying to learn it.”

After Sunday, he’ll go home for about a week then return to Foxboro for the offseason program.

That’s when he may meet Brady for the first time and get some tips on how a sixth-round pick can become a star.

“If I could do that, I’d be a happy man,” Kingsbury said. “That’s a great story. I think anybody drafted in the later rounds should take heed of that.”

AP-ES-05-02-03 1841EDT