There's been no storage of mystery surrounding Tom Brady's seemingly sudden 11-day absence from the football field.
A theory floating around social media for the past week wondered if TB12 was actually secretly filming "The Masked Singer," hence the radio silence. However, on Monday, Aug. 22, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback casually denied the claim.
"Wasn't on the Masked Singer last week. Was wearing a mask though," he commented alongside a video ad for his apparel brand, Brady.
Social media isn't convinced.
"Tom Brady is back at Bucs practice today, and was 'apparently' vacationing in the Bahamas with family. Sounds like something someone who was on the Masked Singer would say," one person tweeted. Another wrote, "Is Tom Brady missing practice to film the Masked Singer?? The show is filming right now and he has a deal with Fox."
Tom confused the sports world when he abruptly left Tampa's camp for "personal things." He was then MIA for 11 days but finally returned to camp on Monday.
"Missed you guys 🏴☠️," he captioned a video from practice.
Tampa Bay's head coach, Todd Bowles, told reporters that Tom's absence was pre-approved.
"We allotted this time because he wanted to get in and get chemistry with the guys and go through two weeks of training camp, knowing he wasn't going to play the first two games," he explained.
A source told Pro Football Talk that the GOAT may have been vacationing with wife Gisele Bündchen at "an exclusive resort" in the Bahamas, not in L.A. for the Fox show.
"His commitment to family and having a personal life was at the heart of this hiatus from football, and there was no medical emergency, as speculated, or other reasons," the website said. "As important as football is to Brady, so is his family, and the Buccaneers have given him his space to be with them."