[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 5 (Monday, January 31, 2000)]
[House]
[Pages H67-H68]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 THE TITANS ARE TRULY TENNESSEE'S TEAM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Clement) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. CLEMENT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today because of a great game that 
took place last night that we know of as the Super Bowl that not only 
captures the hearts and minds of the people in the United States but 
worldwide, because football is definitely a worldwide sport.
  I am from the State of Tennessee. I represent the 5th Congressional 
District, Nashville, Tennessee, that is known as Country Music U.S.A., 
the Athens of the South; but we also have something that we are awfully 
proud of and we just completed a stadium that the Tennessee Titans, who 
used to be called the Houston Oilers, now play in. We are awfully proud 
of our team, the Tennessee Titans.
  The Titans got their name from Nashville being known as the Athens of 
the South. We have a replica of the Parthenon in Nashville, Tennessee. 
So it seemed to make a lot of sense when we talk about why it was named 
Titans, because of Greek gods and Greek mythology. I might say that the 
Tennessee Titans rose to the occasion, and what a season they have had.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of the American Football 
Conference Champion Tennessee Titans from the 5th Congressional 
District of Tennessee. The Titans finished their inaugural season at 
the Adelphia Coliseum in Nashville with an all-time best 13-3 record, 
and then went on to defeat their foes the Buffalo Bills, the 
Indianapolis Colts, and the Jacksonville Jaguars, Mr. Speaker, that you 
supported, in outstanding play-off games, becoming the undisputed 
champions of the AFC.
  The Titans then completed the year with a 16-4 overall record, 
playing in the football world championship, the Super Bowl, for the 
first time in the history of the franchise. The entire Titan team is to 
be commended for their courage, strength, and valor in this inaugural 
season in Nashville. They have faced adversity over the years, but now 
they can truly say they have come home to Tennessee.
  I also want to congratulate owner Bud Adams, along with coach Jeff 
Fisher and the entire Titans' coaching staff for steering this team to 
victory after victory, as well as the Tennessee Titans' fans for being 
named the best fans in the NFL.
  Tennessee may not have won the Super Bowl trophy, but the Titans 
played their hearts out down to the very last second and made every 
Tennessean proud. The Titans are truly Tennessee's team. On behalf of 
Titans' fans everywhere, I want to thank the team for giving us the 
best season we could have ever dreamed of and for letting the world 
know that Tennessee is a force to be reckoned with both on and off the 
field.
  Mr. Speaker, I also want to congratulate the St. Louis Rams. What a 
great season they have had. I want to congratulate Kurt Warner. He is 
not only the quarterback for the St. Louis Rams but a great man, with 
great character and great vision who led them to victory last night.

                              {time}  1845

  I also want to say, on behalf of the people of Tennessee, we are 
pleased to have a professional football team in our great State. In a 
lot of ways, we thought Memphis deserved it a lot more than Nashville 
because Memphis had worked so hard for so many years to capture a team. 
It happened to fall our lot to have the Tennessee Titans, which we 
consider a State-wide team, not just a local or regional team. But the 
Tennessee Titans have truly shown that they have a lot of courage. They 
are going to have great years ahead of

[[Page H68]]

them as well, because we know that they are coming back and getting 
that much stronger.
  I want to congratulate our quarterback, too, our quarterback for the 
Tennessee Titans and Eddie George and Al Del Greco, and we can go on 
and on with the great players we have had, and Marcus Robertson, who 
was hurt in the game before, who was decent enough through his 
foundation to give us or send four young people to Washington, D.C. to 
a youth violence event.
  Those are the kinds of examples we need in the future, not just 
football players but football players with courage, football players 
with character that will set an example to our young people as we move 
into the 21st century and prepare for the future.

                          ____________________