Poof. Now you see him, now you don't. Tom Brady, Super Bowl MVP and legend in the making, beat Carolina for his second championship ring in three years, made a return trip to Disney World, underwent secret shoulder surgery, appeared as a spectator at a celebrity outing, then disappeared.
We haven't seen him since. Our last public image of Boston's hottest sports figure was Brady and his injured wing walking along the fairways at Pebble Beach, engulfed by his adoring public.
"I saw that on TV," reports Damien Woody, Brady's former teammate. "It was a scene. I was thinking, `What is he doing out there? The guy is nuts.' "
Poof. The guy was also gone. Unlike after his first Super Bowl triumph, when Brady dropped in at the Playboy Mansion, scored a cameo appearance at the Oscars, and danced the night away at some of America's hottest nightclubs, this time he celebrated in private. He spent three weeks overseas with his girlfriend, Bridget Moynihan, and eschewed most late-night revelry. Inquiring minds wondered about the arthroscopic procedure on his shoulder, which team officials kept reminding us was minor, but nervous Patriots fans knew any kind of operation on this golden throwing arm shouldn't be characterized as trivial.
Your worries are over. Brady has participated in the team's offseason conditioning program for the past three days down in Foxborough, and his agent, Don Yee, reports Brady is pain-free and ready to go.
"He's been doing everything," concurs Patriots owner Robert Kraft.
In the meantime, those endorsement offers keep on coming, along with subtle pressure from the NFL to fulfill a role as its charismatic poster boy. Brady has politely declined invites to beauty pageants, a starring role in a TV reality series, all the late-night shows, and dozens of endorsement enticements.
"That's great," says Kraft. "He's kept a very low profile. The first time, he was like a little kid, an innocent child, reacting to everything that came at him.
"This time, having been through the process, he's much more prepared. He's managing his life this time, instead of other people managing his life."
Woody says flying below the radar is fine, but it makes it hard to track down his friend. He's been trying to reach Brady for weeks.
"I can't get him," Woody moans. "We keep missing each other. I call him up -- nothing. He calls me back -- nothing. I haven't talked to him since I signed my deal [with Detroit], so I'll call him again this week. I want to know how he's doing with that surgery."
Brady's shoulder woes were kept quiet during the season, per order of coach Bill Belichick. Woody says the injury was, at times, debilitating.