There are three Donald Drivers in 2011.
The one consumed with winning the Super Bowl.
The one who took advantage of the extra long off-season from the lockout to relax, heal and rehabilitate.
And the one who now expects to resume his starting role with the Green Bay Packers as soon as the labor situation is settled.
He knows that last notion might come with some questions - and doubts - which he is grateful he hasn't had to address for the last five months.
"The lockout gave me the opportunity to heal and not try to rush back to prove to people or prove to the media I'm not done yet," Driver said. "If I didn't show up for OTAs, and I'm hurt and everything, people would say I may be winding down.
"It always seems like every year I've got to go in and I've got to prove myself. At this point, I am the starter and no one can take that from me."
Driver is 36 years old with 12 years of experience. The challenge is no longer as a seventh-round draft pick making it against all odds. It will be about proving that he has fully recovered from the quadriceps injury that resurfaced before the Super Bowl as well as the high ankle sprain and knee injury he suffered during the game. It will also be to continue as a productive member of Green Bay's talent-rich offense.
But those are external questions.
He has no doubts.
"I know I can play at a high level," said Driver. "I'm going back to have fun. I have two years left on my contract; I want to play those two years out - as a starter."
The quadriceps injury is well in the rearview mirror. But Driver admits the ankle sprain was much worse than he initially thought when he hobbled off the field in Dallas.
"You hear sprain and think, three, four, maybe five weeks," said Driver.
He was in a boot for two months and felt pain shoot from the knee down to the ankle. The lockout prevented him from working out a rehabilitation program with Green Bay trainers, leaving him to rehabilitate with his own trusted specialists at the Michael Johnson's Performance Center in McKinney, Texas.
So Driver became the most athletically gifted chauffeur in Dallas. With his wife, Betina, expecting their third child, a girl, in September, and not always feeling so great, Driver took over and drove his son and daughter to school or out to play. When he did travel to "The Mo'Nique Show" or to Washington, D.C., to read to kids with first lady Michelle Obama, he returned home as soon as possible.
When trainers told him not to run, he listened - for once. There was no pressure or obligation to be on some field somewhere. There was time to adjust his stubborn side, which has always been set to prove the naysayers wrong.
"I did exactly what they wanted me to do. I didn't try to rush the healing process," said Driver.
"It just didn't feel right. Then when I saw it on film - the hit - it was like what Ryan Grant sustained early in the year. Mine was exactly the same, or worse. I just didn't understand how my leg or my ankle could snap in half."
When the lockout was temporarily lifted during the draft, it allowed Driver to check in with the Green Bay trainers. He assured them he was working his way back. He's now running and working out at full strength, he said. When training camp breaks, he said he'll participate fully.
But age and injuries have a way of making veteran players think about their future. Driver is aware that fellow receiver Jordy Nelson had a great Super Bowl game.
And his own numbers have declined: from 1,061 receiving yards in 2009 to 565 in 2010.
He made it clear he is not entertaining any role other than the one he's held since 2002 - when he became a starter.
"I think I've earned that respect to be the starter," said Driver. "I earned my spot as a starter. I was on pace to have a good game at the Super Bowl; unfortunately I ended up getting hurt."
Driver explained he will pursue another 1,000-yard season - he has had seven 1,000-yard seasons - but if he doesn't meet it, he said statistics don't tell the whole story on Green Bay's fifth-ranked passing offense in 2010.
"If people think you need to put up 1,000 yards, that makes you a top receiver - that's not true. Not at all," said Driver. "We spread the ball around and we won the Super Bowl. If I have 500, 600 yards the next three, four, five years, that doesn't mean I'm winding down. That just means we're winning games. If we win another Super Bowl, to me, that's all that matters."
Driver said it's hard to compile gaudy receiving numbers with receiver Greg Jennings in the lineup (he's had three straight 1,000-yard seasons) and tight end Jermichael Finley returning from injury.
"I know he's hungry; he wants action," said Driver, who is just 41 yards shy of eclipsing James Lofton's team record of 9,656 yards receiving.
The future of receiver James Jones is unknown. He could be lost to free agency if another team offers him a big contract.
"We hope that he comes back, but if not he will make the best decision for his family," said Driver.
Rested and ready to resume football, Driver is unwilling to give in to his aging legs.
Only after Driver's contract is up after the 2012 season will he reassess.
"If the Lord lets me I'll keep playing more and more. If, when it's all said and done and the Packers want to go a different route, then I'm willing to sit back and look at the situation and walk away. I don't want to play for anyone else."