Bertrand Berry nearly recalled the exact day Monday that he sat at the Broncos' facility, across from the team's then-pro personnel director, Rick Smith, and got his second chance in the NFL.

"It was January 1st or 2nd, 2001, and I had been out of the league for an entire year," the Arizona Cardinals defensive end said as his team made its first media appearance of Super Bowl XLIII.

"I remember sitting in his office and I had been through the little workout they had given me, and he said, 'Hey, with your skills and your athletic ability, we've got to put you somewhere. We definitely think you can play in this league and we're going to give you a shot.'

"It was all I was looking for at the time. I just wanted a shot. And he provided that to me. I'll forever be grateful for that."

Berry started 13 of 43 games with the Indianapolis Colts beginning in 1997 but wasn't tendered a qualifying offer after his third season. He attended training camp with St. Louis in 2000, played briefly for Edmonton in the Canadian Football League, then sat out a year before that fateful meeting with Smith.

Berry had 20 sacks in three seasons with the Broncos, including a team-high 111/2 - along with 65 tackles - in 2003.

He opted to sign a five-year, $25 million contract in free agency in March 2004 that included a $5 million signing bonus. The Broncos attempted to match the offer.

"I saw an opportunity to come out to Arizona and be a part of a resurrection," Berry said. "When you're part of resurrections, they remember you. And I play the game to be remembered. Obviously, we all do it to get paid and to win championships. But I don't want to do anything in my life that's not remembered."

Before signing Berry, the Cardinals had only 61 sacks in the previous three seasons combined. But in Berry's first season, he started 16 games and made the Pro Bowl on the strength of 141/2 sacks.

He since has fought injuries, missing 21 games from 2005 to 2007, and volunteered to take a pay cut to stay in Arizona this season. But his persistence is close to the ultimate payoff.

"To think in 12 years it's taken me this long, and the ups and downs and trials and all that, it's overwhelming when you really stop to think about it," Berry said with a tinge of emotion.

Ward expects to play

Hines Ward is unsure of his availability for practice this week and almost certainly won't go Wednesday. But the Steelers receiver is confident he'll be available for Sunday's game.

Ward sprained the medial collateral ligament in his right knee during the AFC Championship Game victory against the Baltimore Ravens and missed practice last week. He's listed as questionable on the injury report.

"I'm not going to be 100 percent," Ward said. "I'm not going to trick anybody to prove that. But I think I'll be good to go out there and perform like I want to."

Ward will be trying to win Super Bowl Most Valuable Player awards in his two appearances in the game. He won it three years ago against Seattle when he caught five passes for 123 yards and a touchdown.

But Pittsburgh's all-time leader in receptions, yards and receiving touchdowns maintained the win would mean more and, as a result, put him a different class in team history alongside a couple of Hall of Famers.

"I think I'd really be, for me personally, considered in a class with (Lynn) Swann and (John) Stallworth because of the four championships they won," Ward said. "You want to associate yourself with winners, and to get a chance to win two Super Bowls in four years, I'd like to think of myself as a winner along with those guys."

Face time

Cardinals receiver Anquan Boldin, badly hurt in a Sept. 28 loss against the New York Jets, remembers the moment he knew he was fully recovered from the facial injury that required seven titanium plates and 40 screws to repair.

And it wasn't a safety, cornerback or linebacker that delivered the confidence-building hit. It was his 4-year-old son, Anquan Jr.

"I was just playing with him at home . . . ," Boldin said of the incident a week after his Oct. 2 surgery. "We were just playing around and he head-butted me pretty good."

Doctors had told Boldin he would need six to eight weeks to return, but he was back after missing only two games. He caught 89 passes for 1,038 yards and a career-best 11 touchdowns in 12 games, remarkable given the circumstances.

One of the first questions Boldin predictably faced upon arriving at the Super Bowl was about his much-publicized sideline spat with offensive coordinator Todd Haley during the NFC Championship Game.

The receiver last week laughed off the incident, calling it overblown, and Monday wasn't eager to call attention to the incident again.

"At this point, it's a nonissue," he said. "We've put that behind us as a team."

Etc.

* Arizona has only six players with Super Bowl experience. Three of those players, receiver Sean Morey, tight end Jerame Tuman and quarterback Brian St. Pierre, received their first look with Pittsburgh three years ago.

* The Steelers were 12-4 during the regular season but 2-2 against NFC teams, losing at Philadelphia and at home to the New York Giants and beating Washington on the road and Dallas at home.

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