INDIANAPOLIS -- While Patriots quarterback Tom Brady attempts to win his fourth Super Bowl Sunday against the Giants at Lucas Oil Stadium, his biggest supporter will be watching the game as part of a small get-together with friends and family in California, 2,300 miles away.

Tom Martinez knew Tom Brady before he was a two-time MVP and first-ballot Hall of Famer. Martinez first met Brady when the quarterback was a raw teenager struggling with the intricacies of the high school game. A Bay Area quarterbacking guru, Martinez effortlessly broke down Brady’s game and quickly became the signal caller's most trusted ally. When Brady won his first start as a pro 10 seasons ago, he gave Martinez the game ball with the inscription: “Coach Martinez — Thanks — The first of many — 9/30/01 — Patriots 44, Colts 13 — Tom Brady #12.”

Now, roughly 25 years after the two first met, the quarterback still relies on Martinez's guidance on a regular basis.

“He’s obviously a great friend of mine and a great friend of my family’s, and has been for a long time,” Brady said Wednesday. “He taught me how to throw the football at a young age. I’m forever indebted to him. We’ve worked together for over 20 years trying to work on my mechanics and nail those down. He’s had a great commitment to me.

“He’s always calling and texting and saying, ‘Get your shoulder down and get your arm up and close your left side and take a shorter stride.’ Talk about a perfectionist -- he’s a perfectionist and he doesn’t let anything slide with me. I owe so much to him. I love him. I love his family. He’s got a great family and I enjoy being with him and working with him.”

Reached by phone at his California home Wednesday, the words took Martinez’s breath away.

“That’s amazing,” he said quietly. “We have a very special relationship, but it’s always nice to hear his point of view on something like that. I can only give my point of view, and you’re never sure what the other person thinks. That’s very nice of him, and extremely gracious. We’ve been working together for a long time, and we’re still working on that perfection.”

Martinez will not be traveling to Super Bowl XLVI, as he’s been hit hard with health problems over the last year. He has struggled with complications brought about by diabetes for a number of years, and is awaiting a possible kidney donation. He’s been accepted for a kidney transplant at Johns Hopkins, but there’s no match yet.

“That’s where Tom has been really helpful, because he’s put it on his Facebook page that we need a kidney, and we’ve had a tremendous response to that,” Martinez said. “But right now, there’s no match.”

“He’s hopefully going to get a kidney pretty soon,” Brady said of Martinez. “He’s been looking for a kidney transplant for a long time, and I’m sure hoping he gets one.”

In the meantime, he watches his prized pupil from afar, and offers regular notes about his performance via phone calls and text messages. That includes a measured take on Brady’s performance against the Ravens in the AFC championship game -- one that led to the quarterback saying he “sucked.”

“What I tried to tell him after that game was that there were three or four throws you’d like to have back. At the same time, you’re not playing against any defense. You’re playing against the Baltimore Ravens -- they’re about as good as it gets,” Martinez said. “I thought he managed the game well. They did what they had to win the game. He made two or three throws that he wished he could have back. But there’s no mulligan in quarterback play, so I don’t think it was that bad. I thought his performance was good, considering what they were doing and who they were playing.”

Martinez believes Sunday’s contest will be a “great game, a real tight game” against a “great opponent.” In his experience, Martinez said that as the 34-year-old Brady has grown older, the quarterback has learned to appreciate the Super Bowl experience.

“There’s no question. I think that’s obvious,” Martinez said. “He hasn’t said it, but anyone who has been to a Super Bowl, especially early in their careers, they probably start to feel that they are going to get back every year. Then you don’t, and you realize how tough it is, and you just don’t get to go every year. The older players, they appreciate it more, what it stands for. The younger players, they probably believe it comes with the territory. I definitely think that he understands the significance of going back, and appreciates the fact that they’re there now.

“I think when you don’t play in one for awhile, you get to appreciate it. It magnifies the importance of the game. I think Tom plays to win, and he plays big games to win. Bottom line? You never know when your team will be able to get back here. There are a lot of breaks that need to happen.”