It has been a grueling last few months for Steelers defensive end Aaron Smith.

And the football has been difficult, too.

Smith, a former University of Northern Colorado standout and Colorado Springs native, learned in October his 5-year-old son, Elijah, has leukemia. The child, one of four for the Smith family, has been undergoing regular chemotherapy.

"It's been a journey, that's for sure," said Smith, who explained this week the remission process takes 3 1/2 years. "But through it all, the Lord has truly strengthened my family and has blessed us abundantly with all that's going on now."

Leukemia is a form of cancer in which the body produces too many white blood cells and affects its ability to kill foreign bodies in the bloodstream.

It seriously can damage the immune system's ability to fight infection.

The Steelers hosted a blood drive for Smith's son the day after Christmas and more than 800 people donated.

Smith has been somewhat reticent to share his tale, saying he's a low-key person trying to maintain his privacy.

"But this is something that I have to deal with, and this is my life right now," he said.

And in the media fishbowl that is the Super Bowl, Smith often has been asked to relate his child's story.

"He had a fever longer than five days, so we just went to the hospital initially to just get some blood work done and see what was going on," he said.

That's when the leukemia diagnosis was revealed.

Smith said his son has been "unbelievable" through the process and retained a sense of high-spiritedness.

"He's given me strength through this," Smith said. "The pity party can only last so long. You have to get up and do something about it."

Smith said his family's struggles have not affected his focus.

"My son's situation is completely separated from football," he said. "I can say, since his situation has arisen, football is not as important or as big to me as it used to be, though I still embrace it and it's still my sanctuary of normalcy in my life."

Smith hasn't gotten back to Colorado much recently, the last time coming in March, when the Sierra High School graduate went pheasant hunting with his brother in the Springs.

Traveling with four children - his others are 6 and 2 years old and 7 months - is a major reason those cross-country trips have been reduced.

He calls his family "Team Chaos."

But the 10-year pro someday hopes to spend more time near the Rocky Mountains, where his football career took root.

"I think there's a good chance at some point," Smith said. "Once we deal with what my son's going through, we'll evaluate it. But I do miss the sunshine, the weather and the mountains. I think my wife misses it more than I do. But Pittsburgh's a great place to raise a family. We don't need to decide right now."

His own man

The Steelers' Troy Polamalu might be one of the NFL's best safeties, but he hasn't gotten there simply via the weight room.

It isn't as if Polamalu doesn't work out; he does lift, but he often shuns the conventional methods of pumping iron many players use to build strength and power.

In the offseason, Polamalu works at The Sports Lab in San Juan Capistrano, Calif. Under the guidance of former Raiders lineman Marv Marinovich, Polamalu does extensive plyometrics - rapid-fire stop-start exercises, on land and in water.

Polamalu began his current practice his junior year at the University of Southern California and employs many of the same exercises during the season.

"It made the training so more intense because that plyometric style of training is more conducive to any athletic-type movements. . . . Everything requires coordination - more coordination than your Olympic lifts like bench, squat and clean."

Polamalu admitted his methods met resistance more in college, where there's more control over players. But in the pros, results on Sundays are tantamount, and former Steelers coach Bill Cowher was an early supporter of his safety's workout regimen, which involves medicine balls, heavy shoes and a balance board.

"Everything I do would be considered more a martial-arts style of training. Everything's based on balance, explosion and nervous system," he said.

Winter spell

Many pundits, and even Cardinals players, have pointed to Arizona's embarrassing 47-7 loss to the New England Patriots in a Dec. 21 snowstorm as the springboard to its playoff run.

Quarterback Kurt Warner begs to differ, saying that's only part of the story.

In three of the four weeks before the New England loss, the Cardinals were beaten, sometimes badly, by the New York Giants (37-29), Philadelphia (48-20) and Minnesota (35-14).

That four-game run, in Warner's mind, showed the Cardinals what a postseason team is supposed to resemble. And even though his team was on the verge of the NFC West title, its level of play was demonstrably lacking.

"I think . . . down towards the end of the season, when we were playing those good teams, it was kind of a trial run for us, like, 'This is what it's going to be about. This is what teams are like in the playoffs,' " Warner said. "You better show up. And we better improve and commit more if we're going to do something in the playoffs. The Patriots game was the final part of it."

Arizona is 4-0 since then.

Etc.

* As expected, receiver Hines Ward was held out of the Steelers' first full practice this week. Ward is expected to test his sprained knee today by cutting and running routes and play Sunday.

* Arizona wideout Anquan Boldin expressed his appreciation to teammate Larry Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald offered to restructure his contract if it would help the Cardinals keep Boldin, who wants a new deal. Boldin has two years left on his current contract and had said he wouldn't re-sign with the Cardinals because of previous financial dealings.

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