Steelers, Cards land in Tampa
TAMPA (AP) – Hines Ward isn’t cutting or turning yet on an injury that sometimes takes weeks and weeks to heal. He’s not running pass patterns or sprinting with much speed.
Not playing in the Super Bowl? Ward can’t imagine it, and neither can any of his Pittsburgh Steelers teammates.
The one question hanging over the AFC champion Steelers as their practice week begins is whether the wide receiver who owns most of the franchise’s career pass-catching records will play with a sprained knee.
To Ward, there’s no question at all.
“I don’t have a brace on, I’m walking around fine,” Ward said Monday, not long after arriving with his teammates. “I’m not going to be 100 percent, I’m not going to trick anybody, but I think I’m going to be able to go out there and perform like I’m used to.”
Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was startled anyone doubted that one of the NFL’s toughest and most physical offensive players – and the Super Bowl MVP three years ago – would play.
“People ask me that question and I want to smack them,” Roethlisberger said. “It’s Hines Ward, he’s going to be out here. It’s the Super Bowl.”
Ward is listed as questionable for the Sunday night game against Arizona, and coach Mike Tomlin said he won’t practice Wednesday.
Thanks to a strong tail wind, Kurt Warner and the Arizona Cardinals arrived in town ahead of schedule Monday to get ready for an unexpected Super Bowl appearance.
Warner, who won a Super Bowl title with St. Louis in 2000, leads a team of Cardinals who are mostly newcomers to the NFL’s biggest stage. After all, the franchise hasn’t played in a title game since 1947.
“Unlike probably the other two, and I think definitely the first one, this one up to this point was really like business as usual,” he said. “I really felt like it was just another road trip. The whole Super Bowl thing hasn’t hit me yet.”
Arizona coach Ken Whisenhunt has been here before, as offensive coordinator of Pittsburgh’s Super Bowl champions of three seasons ago.
“It’s a little muggy out here,” Whisenhunt said, “but fortunately we’ve got a week to get used to that.”
They have much less time to get used to the media frenzy that comes with the Super Bowl, and they will lean on Warner’s experience.
“Anytime you have a player that has Kurt’s credentials, that has had the season that Kurt’s had throughout this year, it commands respect,” Whisenhunt said.
Larry Fitzgerald, whose acrobatic catches have been a highlight of the Cardinals’ improbable playoff run, said Warner is a great asset to all facets of his life.
“We talk about family life, we talk about my faith in God,” Fitzgerald said. “There’s not anything I can’t talk to him about.”
Whisenhunt said he wants his team to enjoy the experience, but “we can’t lose sight of the fact that we’re here to play a game.”
He knows that trouble lurks in the party environment that leads up to Sunday’s game.
“I don’t think you can talk to them about it enough,” Whisenhunt said. “I’ve talked to them about it and will talk to them about this again. That’s something that’s very important. … The only thing is give them as much information as you can about it. It really goes back to the type of players that we have. They’ve done a really good job of handling this so far.”
The Cardinals have rolled up 95 points in playoff victories over Atlanta, Carolina and Philadelphia, heady stuff for a franchise that had two playoff victories its entire history before this year.
The NFL says Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium will be one of the safest places in the United States when the Super Bowl is played Sunday.
The FBI, Customs and Border Protection and numerous other federal agencies will assist local police in protecting players and fans.
Milton Ahlerich, the NFL’s vice president for security, said at a news conference Monday that the heavy security for this year’s game will be typical of every Super Bowl since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Officials declined to say how many total personnel will be involved, but at least 20 different federal agencies will be involved, handling duties ranging from protecting airspace to arresting people selling counterfeit merchandise.