"Receiver Hines Ward pulled on a new pair of shoes Monday and practiced football for the first time since February.

"It's time to hang up the ballroom shoes and pull out the cleats," Ward said before he hit the field at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe.

Ward opened his 14th training camp on the physically-unable-to-perform list after he had surgery on his left thumb in June to repair a ligament that he said was torn in the second game of the 2010 season.

He delayed the surgery until after he won "Dancing With the Stars."

He also had surgery on a knee right after the Super Bowl.

"I'm excited to be back, get my feet wet and continue to go out there and make plays," said the most prolific receiver in team history."