[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 125 (Wednesday, August 1, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10678-S10679]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    HONORING THE LIFE OF BILL WALSH

  Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Res. 290, submitted 
earlier today.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       Honoring the life and career of former San Francisco 49ers 
     Head Coach Bill Walsh.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, yesterday we lost a man who was the 
heart and soul of the great San Francisco 49er teams of the 1980s. Bill 
Walsh was a great coach and a fine friend.
  I rise today with Senator Boxer to introduce a resolution to honor 
the life and career of a pioneer in the field of football, a true 
leader and teacher, and a dedicated husband, father and friend.
  He touched so many in the bay area. He led the 49ers to three Super 
Bowls. And he gave this city a shot in the arm in some of its darkest 
hours.
  I became mayor in 1978. Bill Walsh became head coach in 1979, after 
honing his skills at Stanford.
  Many forget that the 49ers before Bill Walsh were an unremarkable 
team. They hadn't made the playoffs in years. The team was filled with 
journeymen.
  San Francisco was a baseball town, and football played second fiddle.
  But just 2 years later in the 1981 season Bill Walsh led the 49ers on 
an improbable run to a Super Bowl victory.
  Led by a quarterback named Montana, these 49ers played an exciting 
new brand of football.
  Only later would we discover that Bill Walsh had revolutionized the 
game--he transformed smash-mouth football into the elegant ``West Coast 
Offense.''
  And this team became the stuff of legends. The players became 
household names. Montana. Rice. Lott. Clark. Young.
  Even the plays became mythical. Who can forget ``The Catch''?
  And Cinderella became a powerhouse and a powerhouse became a dynasty.
  I look back on that time with great fondness.
  One of the photos that I treasure most is in my home in Washington.

[[Page S10679]]

  It was the parade after the first Super Bowl victory. Bill and Eddie 
DeBartolo and I were sitting on the rim of a car. We were worried that 
no one would show up. Some said that San Francisco doesn't do parades.
  And then we turned down Market Street. And there were a million plus 
San Franciscans lining the streets.
  I will never forget that moment.
  Bill Walsh meant so much to this city.
  He made the 49ers great at a point when the city needed it most.
  The city was fragmented and divided in the early 1980s. Mayor George 
Moscone had been assassinated a few years earlier. There were riots. 
And there was little to bring us together.
  But on Sundays, the differences melted away. The tensions diminished. 
The anxieties subsided.
  There was nothing like Montana to Rice for an 80-yard touchdown. 
Nothing like a victory over the Los Angeles Rams. Nothing like a Super 
Bowl championship.
  And on Mondays, after a victory, you would see a changed city. A 
little bit nicer, a little less mean.
  So Bill Walsh brought this city together in ways that he, nor I, 
would ever really understand.
  Football became the glue to bind this city together.
  And during the 10 years I came to know Bill, I came to admire him, 
respect him, and love him.
  And he made me, like so many others, a 49ers fan for life.
  Bill Walsh, though, was more than a coach.
  He was a leader. A mentor. A friend.
  He didn't just revolutionize how football is played, but how it is 
coached and taught.
  He believed, as I do, that the devil is in the details. And that you 
have to practice right to play right. He was the first to script the 
first 15 plays in a game.
  And he didn't just coach men. He shaped them into good football 
players and good citizens.
  His greatest skill may have been as a scout, identifying raw talent 
and sculpting it into masterpieces.
  They said that Joe Montana didn't have a strong enough arm, that 
Jerry Rice wasn't fast enough, that Steve Young wasn't disciplined 
enough.
  But Bill saw what other people missed. He saw the intangibles. He saw 
leadership. And work ethic. And character.
  And there is no one who wouldn't want a Bill Walsh-coached player on 
their team.
  Bill was a mentor as well. He wanted his players and coaches to 
fulfill their potential more than anyone. He encouraged them to spread 
their wings and go out on their own.
  And you can see the results, more than half the coaches in the league 
have been in some way touched by Bill Walsh--either directly like 
Seattle Seahawk's Coach Mike Holmgren or Indianopolis Colts' Coach Tony 
Dungy or indirectly, by the second and third generation coaches who may 
not have coached or played under Bill, but are teaching his offense 
nonetheless.
  But I think what we will miss most is not Bill Walsh the coach, but 
Bill Walsh the person.
  He was decent, and good, and kind.
  Sure, he was tough. In football, just as in public life, you have to 
be.
  But he was fair. He expected his players and coaches to spend the 
time and effort it takes to be great. But he did not expect anything 
from them that he was not prepared to give himself.
  Bill once said, ``Playing to one's full potential is the only purpose 
of playing at all.''
  The good news is that Bill fulfilled his purpose. He played to his 
full potential in everything he did.
  I know I speak for all San Francisco when I say that this is a sad 
day. He will truly be missed.
  Bill Walsh may have been called a ``Genius'' when it comes to 
football, but his legacy goes well beyond the Xs and Os.
  He touched this city, and we owe him a debt that can never be repaid.
  Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution 
be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motion to reconsider 
be laid upon the table; that any statements be printed in the Record, 
as if read.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res 290) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                              S. Res. 290

       Whereas William Ernest Walsh was born on November 30, 1931, 
     in Fremont, California;
       Whereas Bill Walsh graduated from San Jose State University 
     in 1955 where he was a successful amateur boxer and wide 
     receiver;
       Whereas, in 1955, he married Geri Nadini, with whom he had 
     3 children: Steve, Craig, and Elizabeth;
       Whereas Bill Walsh began his coaching career at Washington 
     High School in Fremont, California, and later served as an 
     assistant coach at the University of California at Berkeley 
     and Stanford University;
       Whereas Bill Walsh served as an assistant coach with the 
     Oakland Raiders in 1966, with the Cincinnati Bengals from 
     1968 to 1975, and with the San Diego Chargers in 1976;
       Whereas Bill Walsh served as head coach of Stanford 
     University from 1977 to 1978 and again from 1992 to 1994, 
     winning the Sun Bowl in 1977, the Bluebonnet Bowl in 1978, 
     and the Blockbuster Bowl in 1992;
       Whereas Bill Walsh became Head Coach of the San Francisco 
     49ers in 1979 and served in that position for 10 years, 
     winning 6 Western Division titles and 3 National Football 
     Conference Championships;
       Whereas Bill Walsh led the 49ers to 3 Super Bowl wins in 
     the 1980s: Super Bowl XVI, Super Bowl XIX, and Super Bowl 
     XXIII;
       Whereas Bill Walsh was the Associated Press and United 
     Press International Coach of the Year in 1981;
       Whereas Bill Walsh ended his professional coaching career 
     with a record of 102 wins, 63 losses, and 1 tie;
       Whereas Bill Walsh was elected to the Pro Football Hall of 
     Fame in 1993;
       Whereas Bill Walsh developed the innovative ``West Coast 
     Offense'', which became widely used by many National Football 
     League (NFL) teams;
       Whereas Bill Walsh drafted and developed a countless number 
     of NFL greats such as Joe Montana, Ronnie Lott, Dwight Clark, 
     Steve Young, and Jerry Rice;
       Whereas 14 of the NFL's 32 head coaches have some 
     connection to Bill Walsh;
       Whereas Bill Walsh developed the Minority Coaching 
     Fellowship program to help African American coaches find jobs 
     in the NFL and Division I college football;
       Whereas Bill Walsh and the 49ers brought the people of San 
     Francisco together following some of the most difficult times 
     in the City's history and gave them much pride, joy, and 
     excitement; and
       Whereas Bill Walsh embodied the qualities of hard work, 
     tenacity, dedication, attention to detail, respect, teamwork, 
     and living up to one's potential: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate honors the life of William Ernest 
     Walsh, a pioneer in the field of football, a true leader and 
     teacher, and a dedicated husband, father, and friend.

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