TAMPA, Fla. – Brett Keisel began sweating the minute he walked off the Pittsburgh Steelers’ plane and into Florida’s bright sunshine and warm weather.

It might be the only time this week the Steelers feel the heat of being favored to win a record sixth Super Bowl.

With injured wide receiver Hines Ward resting comfortably in his shipped-in hyperbaric chamber, the Steelers didn’t seem the least bit bothered Monday by all the attention they’re drawing for a game that can unnerve the most experienced of players.

Maybe it’s because 20 of them, counting Ward and 10 other starters, played and won a Super Bowl three years ago in Detroit, where the weather was never as comfortable as it is in Tampa. Or maybe it’s the three AFC title games and 10 playoff games many Steelers have been part of during the last five seasons.

While the Super Bowl is a whole new deal for the Arizona Cardinals, who have gone longer without a major pro sports championship (61 years) than any team except for the Chicago Cubs, the Steelers are accustomed to playing what coach Mike Tomlin calls January football.

Or, in this case, February football.

The Steelers also are encouraged that Ward – the player whose toughness and whatever-it-takes attitude defines the franchise – is certain he will play Sunday despite a sprained right knee. Ward was injured during the first quarter of the AFC championship game on Jan. 18.

He is undergoing strenuous rehabilitation, including a session in Pittsburgh on Monday morning before hopping on the Steelers’ private charter. He may be on the field again as soon as Thursday’s practice at the University of South Florida.

As quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said: This is Hines Ward, and how could the MVP of the only Steelers’ Super Bowl victory in the last 29 years possibly miss a game so big?

Answer: He won’t.

“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.”