‘I was just excited to pick off Tom Brady.’ Echols responds to debate over INT autograph.

Brandin Echols had a feeling something special was going to happen.

The New York Jets rookie cornerback could picture it throughout practice last week: Tom Brady would throw a pass in his direction and he’d take care of the rest.

“I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m going to get a pick against Tom Brady,’” Echols said.

Sure enough, in the closing seconds of the first half against Tampa Bay, Echols snagged Brady’s pass intended for Mike Evans and returned it 30 yards to help the Jets get a field goal.

“When it happened, I was like, ‘Yeah, I want the ball signed,’” Echols said. “I spoke it into existence and it happened. And then at the end of the game, that’s when I was just like, oh yeah, get my ball and I want to get it signed.”

Echols found Brady in the middle of the MetLife Stadium field after the Jets’ 28-24 loss, armed with the football he intercepted and a pen.

The seven-time Super Bowl MVP said a few brief words to Echols, a sixth-round draft pick out of Kentucky, signed the football, and the two shook hands and hugged. Fox cameras showed the exchange — and it immediately set off a debate as to whether what Echols did was perfectly OK or unprofessional.

“There most definitely could have been another way to get that done, but I was just excited to pick off Tom Brady,” Echols said Thursday. “I’ve been watching him since I started realizing what football was. So it was a big moment for me, and I was just caught up in the moment. I just felt like I needed to do it right there.”

The 24-year-old Echols was surprised at how much of a topic of conversation it became on social media and sports radio and TV shows.

“I thought it was the same thing like getting a jersey swapped,” Echols said of a common practice between NFL players after games. “But people made it a bigger deal than it was supposed to be. It really doesn’t mean anything to me because I’m the one going out doing what I’m doing every week. It’s good to just relax and live your childhood dream for once.”

Coach Robert Saleh had no issue with Echols getting his interception ball signed by Brady, even after a tough loss.

“That is a very cool, genuine moment that’s happening between players,” Saleh said. “I think it speaks volumes. One, it’s a little ballsy by a rookie to do it, but I think it speaks volumes about Tom Brady and his character.”

As for Brady, he called Echols “a nice guy” on his “Let’s Go!” podcast with Jim Gray, adding that the rookie’s unusual request “was kind of flattering.”

“It’s not often I sign an interception ball,” he said. “I think it’s the first time. I don’t necessarily like signing mistakes, let me just say that. So that’s the last time I’m going to do that. I know it’s the season of giving — I don’t plan on giving any more gifts to people. It’s much better to receive than give, from my standpoint as a quarterback.”

That means Echols has a very rare piece of memorabilia to display for years to come.

“Yeah, it’s one of one,” Echols said with a laugh. “That’s how I see it: one of one.”