Tom and Gisele tying the knot?

We're hearing that after two years of dating, Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen are finally engaged.

Gossip site TMZ ratcheted up the buzz yesterday, reporting the injured Patriots QB proposed to his supermodel girlfriend on a private flight from Teterboro Airport in New Jersey to Boston on Christmas Eve. Her parents were reportedly along for the ride, along with four dozen white roses and some bubbly. The site reports Brady was nervous before he popped the question, but - of course - Gisele said yes.

A source close to Brady also said yesterday he heard the engagement is a go.

But if it's true, Tom Brady Sr. says he isn't in on the news. "We don't know a thing about it," Tom's dad told us yesterday. "Nobody told me. We talked to him and there's nothing to say. It's rumor, rumor, rumor. It must be a slow news day."

His denial surely won't stop the speculation, which had photographers staking out Brady's Back Bay condo yesterday, hoping to glimpse the couple or their family members. At 3:45 p.m., a black Audi A8, driven by Brady's assistant Will McDonough, pulled up to the back of Brady's Beacon Street home, and out jumped Valdir and Vania Bundchen, Gisele's father and mother. A short time later, McDonough re-emerged alone and drove off. The couple was seen exiting the condo, but notably Gisele wasn't wearing a ring.

Earlier in the day, Tom Brady was spotted in the Pats' training room at Gillette Stadium, but avoided coach Bill Belichick's locker room press conference.

The engagement story doesn't come as a big surprise, as the Web has been abuzz recently with reports that the couple has been out ring shopping and planning a small March wedding in Costa Rica, where Gisele has a vacation home.

A few weeks ago, the New York Daily News reported the two squabbled over ring size, with Bundchen telling friends she preferred something "antique-looking and understated," as opposed to a giant bauble. Back in October, In Touch Weekly reported Brady ducked into Cartier in Beverly Hills to check out a $145,000 five-carat yellow diamond engagement ring.

Still, gossip hounds have weathered plenty of false alarms when it comes to Brady-related nuptial news.

Yesterday, airport officials in New Jersey and Boston were unable to confirm the lovebirds' flight, and Pats spokesman Stacey James was mum, as usual.

"Long ago I stopped going to Tom with items of personal interest, after the number of houses he's bought and how many times he's been married," he joked. (Brady has never been married, to anyone's knowledge.) "I'm sure when the time comes that Tom wants the world to know these kind of details, he'll let everyone know."

Brady's agent, Don Yee, could not be reached for comment yesterday.

The Brady-Bundchen romance began in late 2006, after Brady split with his pregnant former flame of nearly three years, Longmeadow actress Bridget Moynahan. Before the baby-mama drama, the Pats star had a squeaky clean, good-boy image, despite having reportedly dated hard-partying Tara Reid and Playmate Layla Roberts, as well as former Boston publicist Laura Kinsman. Many predicted he and Moynahan were altar-bound. (Bundchen, too, was coming off a long relationship, with actor Leonardo DiCaprio.)

Brady and Bundchen immediately began canoodling around the globe (early on, the couple was snapped in Paris together), even as a reportedly shell-shocked Moynahan worked through her pregnancy solo in California. Since the birth of son Jack in August 2007, Moynahan and Brady appear to be parenting together, and the little guy has even been spotted out and about with dad and his potential future stepmom.

After blowing out his knee this fall, Brady's had plenty of quality time for Bundchen - so much so that he's become a paparazzi punching bag for doing her errands and walking her dog. (TMZ particularly loves harassing and filming the QB as he gimps from Gisele's NYC townhouse door to his car.)

The latest is that the couple shelled out about $11.7 million for property in a gated community in Brentwood, Calif., near the estate of California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Moynahan, who happens to be filming a TNT cop drama in Boston with Donnie Wahlberg, also calls the West Coast home, as does Brady's family. The theory goes that Brady and Bundchen hope to build a home closer to baby Jack.

PAYSHA RHONE

Reading's Mariana Perrotta made a stop at Frog Pond yesterday, before skating the role of Tinker Bell in "Disney on Ice: Mickey & Minnie's Magical Journey," which opened at the Garden yesterday. The 20-year-old skater said she experienced "flashbacks" at the pond, where she glided with her family as a kid. "I saw a girl doing a sit and spin, and I wanted to try that," she remembered. Many lessons and lots of practice followed and guess what? "I got that spin," she said, laughing. Perrotta is currently on tour with Disney, but said performing in Boston is special. "It's so exciting knowing that my friends and family are watching me."

Up-and-coming mixed martial arts fighter John "Doomsday" Howard (inset) has a big reason to celebrate in the new year: a four-fight deal with Dana White's UFC, or Ultimate Fighting Championship. The 25-year-old Dorchester native, who's trained at local gyms for years and currently hangs his shorts at Wai Kru in Allston, said he'll first take on Chris Wilson at the MGM Grand in Vegas on Jan. 31. "I almost did a back flip," he admitted, after signing the contract. His brother came up with his creepy name. "I wanted to be someone strong, like Superman. But Superman's a little corny," he said, laughing. To get in the spirit, Howard will host a big UFC night, showing the pay-per-view fights of Forrest Griffin vs. "Sugar" Rashad Evans and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Frank Mir, among others, at Oliver's at the Cask 'n Flagon tonight. Let's bring it on!

A shout-out to Western Mass. artist Susan Mikula, girlfriend of MSNBC's Rachel Maddow. Mikula, whose work explores the idiosyncrasies of the Polaroid camera, just opened her first show in New York. "I'm so proud of her," Maddow told us the other day. The show at CHC Gallery in Chelsea is up until Jan. 24. Last year, Mikula exhibited a few of her large-scale digital Duraflex prints at the State House.

Names can be reached at names@globe.com or at 617-929-8253.