[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Pages 324-325]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[[Page 324]]

                  SUPER BOWL CHAMPIONS ST. LOUIS RAMS

  Mr. ASHCROFT. Mr. President, I appreciate this opportunity to make a 
comment on an event which is very important to the State of Missouri, 
very important to the city of St. Louis, very important to this 
Senator.
  It happens that over the weekend, the St. Louis Rams encountered a 
very energetic and talented team, the Tennessee Titans, in Atlanta to 
settle the issue of who would be the Super Bowl NFL champions this 
year. In a very hard fought game that represented the highest of effort 
by both teams, the Rams prevailed. There are those who from time to 
time ask me if I was nervous at any time. I think they were hoping I 
would say I was never nervous. Well, I got pretty nervous toward the 
end of the game. But I was very pleased with the result because there 
is no team more worthy of having won this game than the St. Louis Rams.
  I will just say a few things about the St. Louis Rams, about that 
marvelous effort of a crew we call the ``go to work,'' ``gotta go to 
work'' crew in St. Louis. Different football teams are understood and 
known for different things. The St. Louis Rams have a slogan: Gotta go 
to work. I don't think there is a better slogan anywhere for a sports 
team than a sports team that elevates the idea of work. It is work that 
brings us to any goal, to the achievements we enjoy. It is work that 
gives us successful families. It is work that allows America to compete 
successfully around the world. It is that work ethic, expressed by the 
St. Louis Rams, that made them world champions.
  For me to have the opportunity to stand today and say a few words 
about the St. Louis Rams, the fact that they had the work ethic 
necessary to prevail in the Super Bowl over an excellent team from 
Tennessee, is something for which we are all grateful.
  I will talk a little bit about the kind of statistical year the Rams 
had. We had Kurt Warner, who is one of the great Horatio Alger stories 
of America. People talk about rags to riches. I don't know if he has 
gotten to riches yet. He was at the minimum wage in the National 
Football League before they decided to give him a bonus this year, and 
I don't know that he was in rags, but 5 years ago he was bagging 
groceries in Iowa because he hadn't quite gotten the opportunity to 
demonstrate his skills in football. Maybe this would be called from 
bags to riches.
  The truth is, it is a heroic story of an individual who has not only 
great football skills but whose inspirational life is the kind of 
leadership we need more of in this country. When asked about his own 
inspiration, he said he gets inspiration from his family and the 
handicapped member of the family who every day, when falling down, gets 
back up. For the most valuable player in the Super Bowl, the most 
valuable player in the National Football League, to understand that we 
can all learn from each other and we can learn from even those in their 
heroic efforts who have not the talents that we do but have the courage 
to get back up, that is a tremendous thing.
  It is with that in mind that I will talk a bit about the St. Louis 
Rams today, the Ram team, including Kurt Warner, and then Marshall 
Faulk, who set the all-time record for combined yardage this year. I 
thrill to the fact that there are youngsters in my State and across 
America who are saying: I want to be like Marshall Faulk; I want to be 
like Kurt Warner and this team of individuals who are such outstanding 
individuals; Isaac Bruce, who has been so productive as a football 
player and such an exemplary leader in our community.
  There are statistics about this team. They won the West divisional 
title with a 13 and 3 record. They posted an undefeated record at home. 
That is something special to me because that was in the TWA Dome. When 
I was Governor of the State of Missouri, it was my responsibility to be 
involved in the construction of that dome and to see to it that it came 
in under budget and on time and was a great facility. But no facility 
ever achieves greatness unless there are great things done there--to 
have the team come and be undefeated there this year and, of course, 
have other great things there. The Pope visited St. Louis and was at 
the TWA Dome, and Billy Graham came to St. Louis this year and was at 
the TWA Dome. There are some people who think it is important to invite 
the Pope and Billy Graham back next year so we can go undefeated 
another time. We would be pleased to have them come back because they 
bring the kind of presence to St. Louis that all of us cherish and 
want.
  To watch our quarterback, Kurt Warner, who enjoyed one of the best 
seasons ever by an NFL quarterback, becoming only the second player in 
history to throw more than 40 touchdown passes and to realize that he 
wasn't discovered as a starting quarterback until this year's 
circumstances thrust him into the position, it was an amazing thing: 
completing 66 percent of his passes; 10 300-yard games in the season; 
setting a new Super Bowl record for 414 yards in passing. The offense 
of the Rams team: 526 points, the third highest single-season record 
ever.
  Of course, Kurt Warner was named the NFL player of the year. He took 
his $30,000 award and gave it to Camp Barnabus, which is a camp for 
young people in southern Missouri. This wasn't a $30,000 donation by 
someone who is making the big salaries; this was a $30,000 donation by 
someone who is earning the minimum wage in the NFL. I could go on. The 
resolution that I will propound not only talks about Kurt Warner but 
extols the greatness of Marshall Faulk. These individuals are as great, 
or greater, off the field than they are on the field. That is what is 
so inspiring--their commitment to community.
  Isaac Bruce caught 77 passes for 1,165 yards and 12 touchdowns in the 
regular season and led the Rams to a Super Bowl victory with 6 
receptions for 162 yards, including a game-winning 73-yard touchdown 
reception that, frankly, required him to make a very big effort to come 
back and get the ball and go get the score. What a tremendous 
inspiration it was.
  On defense, Todd Lyght led the Rams with a regular season career high 
of six interceptions, including a touchdown. He started in 97 straight 
games. Now, there is durability. Talk about having to go to work. That 
is the longest current streak with the team.
  Rams' linebacker Mike Jones ended the very spectacular and heroic 
effort of the Tennessee Titans on the 2-yard line with the game-winning 
tackle as the time ran out in the Super Bowl.
  I could also talk about wide receiver Terry Holt and about Coach Dick 
Vermeil, named NFL coach of the year, the oldest coach ever to win a 
Super Bowl. He, of course, retired from coaching, but he came back 
because he still had a burning capacity within him to motivate and help 
young people, and the football team reached the maximum of its 
potential.
  It is with that in mind I wanted to propound a resolution to 
congratulate not only the team, the St. Louis Rams, but, frankly, the 
fans of St. Louis. No group of fans that I know of is more intelligent, 
understanding of the game, and more supportive of a team than the fans 
in St. Louis. The fans came together with the team over and over again. 
They stuck with the team in previous years when we were the worst in 
the league and helped carry the team when we were first in the league. 
That is very important.
  I was at a tremendous celebration in St. Louis, and the individual 
who announces the team onto the field in each game, who is also a disc 
jockey at KSD FM, Smash, Asher Benrubi, was leading this rally. It 
became very apparent to me that the biggest contribution of the St. 
Louis Rams is the contribution of community, because the community has 
come together around this team in a special way that unites us all. 
Unity is the most important characteristic of any organization. When 
you can be unified and work together, that is something to behold.
  It struck me at the time that the last five letters of the word 
``community'' are the word ``unity.'' Those things, those challenges in 
our lives, and those opportunities in our lives, those victories and, 
yes, even defeats bring us

[[Page 325]]

together and are valuable to us. It is with that in mind I thank Smash 
for his great leadership as the MC of that rally. I thank the fans of 
St. Louis.

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