[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Page 6494]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



          TRIBUTE TO THE 2000 AIR FORCE ACADEMY FOOTBALL TEAM

 Mr. ALLARD. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to the 
2000 Air Force Academy football team and their outstanding head 
football coach Fisher DeBerry.
  On May 4th, President Bush will present the Commander-in-Chief's 
Trophy to the members of last year's football team at the White House. 
The Commander-in-Chief's Trophy is the most prized possession of the 
three service academies. It is given annually by the President of the 
United States to the service academy with the best record in the three-
team competition between Army, Navy and Air Force. I am proud to say 
this is the fourth year in a row the Air Force Academy has captured the 
trophy and they have won 10 of the last 12 seasons.
  The most important aspect of the 2000 Air Force Academy Football Team 
is each athlete on this team is a student first, and an athlete second. 
They play the game of football not to become an NFL star one day, but 
because they love the game of football.
  Their leader is a modest southern gentleman named Fisher DeBerry 
whose life is driven not by football, but by his Christian faith and 
his family. In his 17 seasons as head football coach at the Air Force 
Academy he has guided his teams to an overall record of 135-72-1. He 
has won more football games than any other coach in service academy 
history and has taken the ``fighting falcons'' to an amazing 11 bowl 
games. In 1996, he served as president of the prestigious American 
Football Coaches Association.
  The 2000 Air Force Academy football team demonstrated that hard work 
can overcome any obstacle. Despite being picked to finish in the lower 
half of their conference, they finished with an overall record of 9-3 
and won a thrilling victory over Fresno State in the 2000 Silicon Bowl. 
Their perseverance is an inspiration to all us.
  I commend the Superintendent of the Air Force Academy, General John 
Dallager and the Director of Athletics, Colonel Randy Spetman, along 
with all the coaches and players of the 2000 Air Force Academy football 
team for a job well done. You have set a standard of excellence that 
all of us should strive to achieve.

                          ____________________