Patriots center Garrett Bradbury is experiencing his first Super Bowl. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

SANTA CALARA, Calif.– Garrett Bradbury doesn’t mind something a little different.

So when asked if he prefers to talk football only or the other non-football, ‘zombie apocolypse’ type questions, he said he’s OK with the latter.

“Yeah, I think the odd-ball questions are kind of fun, they’re a good change-up,” Bradbury said. “It’s cool to see, you’re always around the locker room, seeing how guys are. So it’s good to be outside the norm.”

This is the six-year veteran, former Vikings first round pick’s first Super Bowl, more or less a dream come true. Is it what he expected?

“I don’t know if I had a ton of expectations,” he said. “It’s been amazing, it’s been awesome. It was surreal when we beat the Broncos (in the AFC Championship Game) two weeks ago, but now we’re here, and everything starts feeling more real. Everything is different, but we’re trying to stick to as much normalcy as we can, because we still have a game on Sunday.”

Bradbury said that the Super Bowl, or having a chance to get there, has always been on his mind.

“You always hope for it, you always imagine it,” he said. “But once that hope’s reality, it’s pretty special.”

Bradbury was a free agent after the Vikings released him, and the Patriots snatched him up after head coach Mike Vrabel opted not to bring back several of last year’s captains, including popular center David Andrews, who retired.

“Coach Vrabel was the first thing that stuck out,” he said. “Talking to him over the phone, just hearing his vision that he had for this program. I had some teammates who played for him in Tennessee, and they had nothing but great things to say about him. And all those things rang true. It’s been a cool experience to learn from him and play for him.”

But Vrabel wasn’t the only attraction. It’s becoming more and more obvious that quarterback Drake Maye has been a huge draw.

“Obviously Drake, that was an enticing piece,” Bradbury said. “You’ve got to have that position in this league. It’s been a really rewarding year.”

And a QB and center certainly need to be on the same page.

“You certainly need reps,” Bradbury said. “You need experience, you need every practice rep you can get. And we kind of see the game through a different set of eyes. But at the same time, we kind of come together, on certain things if I can help him.

“He’s the conductor of the offense, and I like to think of the center as the conductor just getting the O-line together. So we all have been on the same page. So that relationship is working.”

Bradbury has always watched the game and wished was playing in it.

“Absolutely, every NFL player does,” he said. “The whole country, a lot of the world is watching it. I’ve never been this far, never been remotely this far. It’ exciting, there’s a bunch of media, it’s a little different, but at the same time I’m trying to snap in to we’ve got practice, we’ve got meetings, we’re preparing to win a game.”

Eyebrows were raised when the Patriots signed Bradbury, as he had not rated that highly. But you certainly haven’t heard his name much, which means he’s been doing his job well.

Bradbury feels that every game, every practice, “there’s some good things and there’s some stuff you want to have back. You’re trying to learn, you’re trying to be better this week than you were last week. Individually, I think I’ve done some good things, there’ some plays I’d like to have back, but I like to look at my performance as the whole line’s performance.”

And that involves the game plan as well.

“There’s some games where we want to keep Drake a little cleaner, and some games when we want to run the ball better,” Bradbury said. “At the same time, there were some questions early in the season about the run game, and we answered those.”

Bradbury says the entire atmosphere has been, well, super – all season.

“I have a lot of fun coming to work with this offensive line group,” he said. “Every day the coaches have been great, like I said we’re just trying to be better this week than last week.”

Bradbury has had another new experience, playing with two rookies on his left side, No. 4 overall pick Will Campbell at left tackle, and undrafted rookie Jared Wilson at left guard.

“It’s been cool,” Bradbury said. “I’ve never played with two rookies at the same time, let alone on the same side. And so it’s been cool. Almost a different generation, so to speak. I’ve learned from them, hopefully they’ve learned from me a little bit. They’re great teammates, great friends.”

They’ll all have to take on a tough Seahawks defensive line led by former Giant and Jet Leonard Williams.

“They’re great, they’re talented,” he said. “They’re not at the Super Bowl if they don’t have good players at those positions. And that’s what the playoffs have been for us. All three of our games have been against at top five defense, and the Seahawks are the fourth top five defense. It’s a good challenge, it’s a good opportunity. We’ve got to get in the meeting room, get on the practice field, work on our techniques.

“But we understand the challenge.”

The other challenge will be for Bradbury & Co. to start fast.

“I think it’s important for every O-line, every quarterback, you certainly want to get off to a fast start,” Bradbury said. “It’s the Super Bowl, the last game of the year.”

One more day to wait. What the heck, Garrett Bradbury’s already waited nearly seven years.