Tomlin credits mentors for fast ascent

There are a lot of young head coaches in the NFL, and one of them made it all the way to Tampa, Fla. Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin, 36, led the Steelers into the Super Bowl in only his second season.

“I’ve been blessed to be around some great coaches, some people who took personal stake in my growth and development,” Tomlin said. “The things I learned from those men . . . names that you know, such as Tony Dungy, Jon Gruden and Brad Childress, but names that maybe you don’t know; guys who have been extremely helpful to me when I coached in the college ranks -- Rick Minter, Joe Hollis, Rip Scherer, Bill Stewart -- all of those guys have been critical to my growth and development.”

Whatever it is that gets his players to respond, it’s working. Tomlin has a 24-11 record, including the postseason, in his first two seasons.

Ward says he’ll play

Hines Ward is still hobbled by the sprained knee he suffered in the AFC title game, but the Steelers receiver remains steadfast on his status: He’s playing.

His quarterback agrees.

“People ask me that question and I want to smack them,” Ben Roethlisberger said of those doubting that Ward will be on the field Sunday. “I mean, it’s Hines Ward. He’s going to be there.”

Boldin: ‘It’s a non-issue’

There was plenty of chatter during the week after the NFC title game about Arizona Cardinals receiver Anquan Boldin and his argument on the sidelines with offensive coordinator Todd Haley.

Boldin says it happens every game with any number of players and last week he laughed off all the attention his tirade on the sidelines attracted. But that doesn’t mean reporters were going to let it go after the team arrived in Tampa on Monday for Super Bowl XLIII.

“I answered all the questions that I was going to answer last week,” Boldin said. “At this point, it’s a non-issue. We put it behind us as a team and we are just preparing for the Super Bowl.”

Despite this being the Cardinals’ first trip to the big game, Boldin said the team is trying to take a low-key approach.

“We are trying to go about it as a team as preparing for another game,” he said. “We are trying to leave all of the hype and the hoopla around it out of it, and try to prepare as much as normal as possible.”

Etc.

The Carolina Panthers quickly filled their opening at defensive coordinator, hiring Ron Meeks to replace Mike Trgovac. Four days after Trgovac abruptly left after being offered a contract extension, the Panthers turned their struggling defense to Meeks, who spent the last seven seasons running Indianapolis’ unit. . . . The Baltimore Ravens promoted Greg Mattison to defensive coordinator, a move designed to maintain a sense of continuity on a unit that excelled under the departed Rex Ryan. The 59-year-old Mattison was hired as Baltimore’s linebackers coach last February. Although he has only one year of NFL experience, Mattison was defensive coordinator at Michigan, Notre Dame and Florida. . . . Imprisoned NFL star Michael Vick is suing a former financial advisor for at least $2 million. Vick claims Mary Wong of Omaha misrepresented herself to gain control of his finances, which she then misused. He’s accusing Wong of fraud, breach of contract, negligence and other offenses. Wong’s lawyer, James Mitchell, did not immediately return a phone message by the Associated Press seeking comment. . . . The widow of Minnesota Vikings lineman Korey Stringer reached a settlement with the NFL over his heatstroke death during training camp in 2001. Under an agreement with Kelci Stringer, the NFL will support her efforts to create a heat illness prevention program. No other terms of the settlement were released.