New England quarterback Tom Brady has won it all, but can he maintain that competitive edge?

The Providence Journal / Bob Breidenbach

I’m worried about Tom Brady.

I’m worried that he may be thinking more about Dolce and Gabbana than the Jets and Dolphins.

What else could we think after reading this report last week in US magazine about the wedding of the Patriots’ superstar quarterback and his supermodel girlfriend, Gisele Bundchen:

“The bride, 28, donned a form-fitting, ivory lace strapless gown with a trumpet skirt, scalloped edges, long train and a floor-length veil with attached handmade satin roses and attached satin headband, all by Dolce and Gabbana. Her three dogs also wore matching Dolce and Gabbana floral lace collars.”

Considering how much fun the Patriots’ offensive linemen had when Brady was photographed a few years ago for GQ holding a goat, one can only imagine the pranks they’ll have in store for their QB when training camp opens this summer.

At the very least, they ought to leave a Dolce and Gabbana floral lace collar in Brady’s locker. Or perhaps Matt Light, Dan Koppen, Logan Mankins, Stephen Neal and company, knowing the high-fashion world in which Brady lives these days, all will show up for the first workout wearing matching Dolce and Gabbana floral lace collars in order to make him feel comfortable.

What makes me uncomfortable, as we look forward to the 2009 season, is a nagging concern that the competitive fire that made Brady a future Hall of Famer may no longer burn as brightly as it did before he got hurt, and before he got married.

The thing about the Great Ones is that they always want to win.

Every time. At everything.

Remember what Tiger Woods said last week, when he returned from knee surgery to play in the Accenture Match Play Championships?

“I entered this event with the same intention I do every event since I was a little boy, and that’s to win.”

And how about this quote from Larry Bird in the January issue of Esquire magazine: “I never played when I didn’t want to be the best out there every night. Not once.”

Brady has always been the same way. He’s always wanted to be the best out there. He’s always been determined to win.

Patriots owner Robert Kraft enjoys telling the story of the first time he met Brady.

“This skinny beanpole guy comes up to me and says: ‘Mr. Kraft? I’m Tom Brady. We haven’t met yet, but I’m the best decision this franchise has ever made.’

“And it was weird the way he said it. It wasn’t like he was arrogant. It was more like he was very confident. It was almost matter-of-fact.”

That was nine years ago, after the Patriots had selected Brady almost as an afterthought with their second choice in the sixth round. They had taken defensive back Antwan Harris 12 picks earlier, at No. 187 overall, of the 2000 draft.

By the summer of 2001, Brady was no longer a skinny beanpole. He had worked so hard to add muscle to his thin frame that he was given a preferred parking space at training camp, where he parked his canary-yellow Jeep.

But how hard has he been working to rehab the reconstructed left knee in which he tore both medial collateral and anterior cruciate ligaments in the first quarter of the first game of the 2008 season?

Bill Parcells likes to say that, on Sunday, everyone wants to win. The problem, he points out, is that not everyone wants to do what it takes from Monday through Saturday in order to win on Sunday.

Brady has been doing some pretty cool things over the last year while in the company of the lovely Ms. Bundchen. They’ve been jet-setting from Paris to Costa Rica, New York to Los Angeles, leading the good life.

How hard, one might well wonder, will it be to leave that life and return to the weight room, to get back to the hours of film study and practice required to win a championship?

When last we really saw Tom Brady, before his all-too-brief 2008 season, he had thrown for a league-record 50 touchdowns while leading the Patriots to a 16-0 regular-season record. He then led New England to its fourth AFC championship in seven years and would have won a fourth Super Bowl had the Patriots’ defense not allowed the Giants to drive 83 yards to the winning touchdown in the final minutes of Super Bowl XLII.

But he’ll be 32 this summer. He’s coming off the first serious injury of his career. He should be financially set for life. He’s married to one of the glamorous women in the world.

In the fiercely competitive world of the National Football League, does Brady still have the drive to excel, to be the best?

There’s no reason to think he doesn’t still have the same talent. But is he still the same guy?

Or has he become somebody who spends more time thinking about Dolce and Gabanna than he does about the Jets and Dolphins?

jdonalds@projo.com