BOSTON – New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was in a two-vehicle accident near his home Thursday morning but was unhurt and hours later practiced with his team days before the season opener.

He then agreed to a four-year contract extension that would make him the NFL’s highest-paid player, according to a person with knowledge of the contract.

Additional Photos

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady resumed his usual routine of stretching before practice Thursday after escaping injury in a two-car crash. The Associated Press

Tom Brady tosses a pass caught by running back Laurence Maroney during the Patriots’ practice Thursday. Brady was unhurt in a car accident earlier in the day. The Associated Press

The contract is worth an average of $19 million per year and begins in 2011, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the paperwork had not yet been filed with the NFL. Brady is making $6.5 million this season.

The crash, at an intersection in Boston’s Back Bay area, knocked over a light pole and sent a passenger in the minivan that collided with Brady’s car to a hospital with injuries that were serious but not considered life-threatening, a police report said.

A witness told The Associated Press that Brady was approaching the intersection on a green light when his black Audi sedan collided with the minivan.

The 21-year-old driver of the Mercury Villager, Ludgero Rodrigues, was cited for failing to stop at a red light, based on witnesses statements, police said. Two other people in the minivan were able to exit and had no visible injuries, they said.

The police report, which did not name Brady, said the driver of the Audi had no visible injuries and was evaluated by Emergency Medical Services. The report said a 49-year-old passenger had to be freed with the Jaws of Life and was taken to a hospital.

Rodrigues’ driver’s license had been suspended at least five times in three years, Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles spokeswoman Ann Dufresne said. Last year, his license was suspended for 180 days after he was arrested for operating under the influence and refused to take a blood test, Dufresne said.

RMV records also show Rodrigues had been charged with a number of moving and traffic violations.

Brady’s father had just arrived in Boston from the family’s California home early Thursday and found out about the accident when he got off his flight.

“I understand he’s fine, but I haven’t talked to him,” Tom Brady Sr. told the AP.

Patriots Coach Bill Belichick told the team about the accident before practice and said Brady might be a bit late, linebacker Tully Banta-Cain said.

“I was hoping, obviously, that he was OK, but I saw him walking in. He had a smile on his face, no abrasions, so I think he’s fine,” Banta-Cain said.

The Patriots open their season at home Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals.

During the 11-minute portion of afternoon practice that reporters were allowed to watch Thursday, Brady, in full uniform with pads and helmet, stretched as usual with his teammates. Then, as he usually does, he threw soft passes of 20 to 30 yards to teammates.

“I want to thank the safety personnel for their service and express our concern and support for the well-being of the occupants of the other vehicle,” Brady’s agent, Don Yee, said in a statement.

Police responded to Commonwealth Avenue and Gloucester Street around 6:30 a.m. after reports of an accident, spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll said.

One of Brady’s neighbors, a 74-year-old woman who asked that her name not be used for fear of being hounded by reporters, was walking her dogs when she saw the accident.

She said Brady was traveling south on Gloucester and approaching the intersection on a green light when his car collided with a fast-moving van going westbound on Commonwealth.

Afterward, she said Brady immediately got out of his car.

The woman had been walking toward the intersection when she saw the cars on their collision course. She took a step backward, tripped on the curb and hit her head, she said.

She sat next to Brady in an ambulance, but neither was taken to a hospital. She said she did not realize he was the star quarterback until later.

Bill Barron said he was in his apartment overlooking the intersection when he heard a collision that sounded like “a bolt of lightning.”

When he looked out the window, he saw the driver of the car picking glass off his clothes and wiping himself off with a towel. He didn’t realize until later it was Brady.

“I thought it was some college kid who had crashed up his father’s really nice car,” Barron said.

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