Two weeks after the injury, Spikes has had enough moping around. He and his agent, Todd France, design a T-shirt that predicts I'll be back: Bigger, Stronger, Faster, Better and begin selling them on takeospikes51.com.

Though he will be in a walking boot for 10 more grueling weeks, The Comeback, as it is officially proclaimed, is on and in a very public way.

The long rehabilitation road begins at the Sports Rehab Center in Atlanta with 20 marbles on the floor in front of Spikes. Brian Tovin, who will oversee every step of Spikes' rehab, tells him to pick each one up with his toes and deposit it in a jar. It is three weeks before Spikes can do it consistently.

During the heavy rehabilitation periods, he is spending up to 10 hours a day, five days a week on his Achilles' tendon. This includes spending two hours a day in a hyperbaric chamber, walking and running on an underwater treadmill and active release therapy, a soft-tissue massage technique.

Helping Spikes through this arduous period is his childhood friend, Robert Edwards. Once a first-round pick of the Patriots, Edwards now is a running back for Montreal in the Canadian Football League. Edwards, who had his knee scoped, goes through many of the rehab exercises with Spikes. And he continues to stay by his side long after his personal rehab is complete. For three months, they are together daily, turning rehab into games, competing and getting stronger.

Edwards and Spikes are together the first time Spikes runs outside in March. Spikes' steps are awkward and flat-footed. But it doesn't matter. They are joyous steps.

Through the spring and summer, Spikes continues to work with more focus and intensity than ever, intent on getting further past this injury than players such as Dan Marino and Sam Cowart could. He works his leg so hard that at one point he develops tendinitis in his knee and has to back off.

Training camp is here, and Spikes has a gift for each of his teammates. It's the book Mind Gym, which inspired Spikes in the offseason. He had taken notes when he read it, and he refers to them still. What he took from the book was this advice: Look at your setbacks as opportunities for comebacks. The book suggests envisioning success before it happens.

One night, in another dream, Spikes is walking upstairs to a stage. In front of him is a skinny microphone on top of a glass podium. He is handed a trophy with a thick glass base and a globe on top. On the orb are the letters "ESPY."

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Spikes is the 2006 comeback player of the year.

When he wakes, though, he is just a former Pro Bowl player who can't even push himself up on the ball of his foot. Initially in camp, caution rules him. Defensive coordinator Perry Fewell has him practicing only once a day, first with six reps per practice, then nine, then 15.

About two weeks into camp, the offense runs a reverse. Spikes recognizes it, plants on his right leg and drives off it — hard. He and Fewell glance at one another and smile. This is a moment.

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A week later, Fewell and Spikes agree he is ready for contact. The offense runs right at Spikes. He takes on a block violently — bam! — and gets off it. Spikes looks around. Another milestone.

The next hurdle is playing in an exhibition game, when he'll be standing around piles and have players around his legs, and everything that happens will be less predictable. On his first play, Spikes brings down Browns running back Reuben Droughns after a 2-yard gain. Twelve plays later, he is ready for the next step.

It's real now, opening day. Beneath a glorious New England sky, the Patriots run the first play of the game from their 21. The call is for Spikes to blitz. He shoots the "B" gap between left guard Logan Mankins and tackle Matt Light like a blur, and no one picks him up. He knocks Tom Brady in the back of his head as Brady cocks his arm and dislodges the ball. Middle linebacker London Fletcher picks up the ball and runs 5 yards for a touchdown in the south end zone at Gillette Stadium.

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Spikes feels wired, in sync. He is certain he has two or three more big plays in him.

But when he accelerates while trying to undercut tight end Ben Watson on an out route on the Patriots' next possession, he feels a pull. It's his right hamstring.

For today, The Comeback is over. But in many ways, it is just beginning.

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