IF Drew Bledsoe had to answer the question once, he had to answer it 1,000 times during Pro Bowl week: Which way will
Patriots go now?"What do you think about Bill Parcells' decision to leave the Patriots?"
Now that the Pro Bowl is over and Pete Carroll has been officially installed as the Big Tuna's successor in New England, Bledsoe has made sure no one can find him to ask what he thinks about that.
"I'm anxious to go on vacation and get away from the whole mess that's gone on with (Patriots' owner) Bob (Kraft) and Bill and all of the distractions and stress involved with that situation," he said in a Saturday post-practice interview at Aloha Stadium.
Of course it's hard to blame the guy for wanting to disappear. The Parcells vs. Kraft controversy muddied the Super Bowl XXXI waters for him and the entire New England squad, no matter how unaffected they all claimed to have been.
Bledsoe said that "having to answer continuous questions about Bill" added unnecessary stress to his season.
But the scrutiny he'll face under Carroll, whose coaching style, by all accounts, is more suitable to Bledsoe's temperament, could actually be more intense.
Without the Parcells distraction, Bledsoe's the main attraction.
THE Patriots came away from their 35-21 loss to Green Bay looking like a very young team on the verge.
But because Bledsoe displayed chronic inconsistency in his passing game, right through the Super Bowl, there are a lot of people in New England and elsewhere who wonder aloud whether the millionaire quarterback might be an anvil tied to the team's foot.
He has a strong arm but doesn't have the mobility of a Brett Favre or a Mark Brunell, and probably never will. It's not in his nature. And can New England ever win a Super Bowl with a guy whose touch and judgment on the pass are still widely questioned?
Which brings us to wonder whether Bledsoe will do better, as well, or worse under Mr. Nice Guy.
Carroll enters the New England scene with a reputation as a relatively softspoken boss compared to Parcells, the drill sergeant.
Can he motivate and discipline Bledsoe the way Parcells did?
Can Carroll pluck Bledsoe's youthful teammates from the clouds they're floating on now and bring them back to earth for another run in the AFC East?
Predicted one skeptical mainland writer at Sunday's Pro Bowl, "They'll probably walk all over Carroll after playing for Parcells."
Curtis Martin bristled at that suggestion Sunday, insisting the Pats will respect whoever's in charge.
Bledsoe says he responds better to a coach like Mike Price, his mentor at Washington State, who practices positive reinforcement.
Carroll might be Bledsoe's guy.
"He's not a guy who coaches through fear," said Carolina Panthers cornerback Eric Davis, who played for Carroll as a 49er in 1995.
SO the Pats go from Fire-breathing Bill to Embraceable Pete.
Will it work?
We know it should work for Kraft. Carroll will yield where Parcells would not to the team owner's insistence upon controlling everything.
But will it work for Bledsoe? That's the key question.
And if you want to take it a bold step further, does it really matter how Carroll handles Bledsoe?
Maybe the AFC champions should consider trading the predictable pocket passer, Bledsoe - straight up - for a creative scrambler like Pro Bowl MVP Mark Brunell.