[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 3]
[Senate]
[Pages 4025-4026]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   CONGRATULATING THE UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE MEN'S FOOTBALL TEAM FOR 
          WINNING THE NCAA DIVISION I-AA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

  Mr. BIDEN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
Judiciary Committee be discharged from further consideration of H. Con. 
Res 355, and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration. It is 
honoring the University of Delaware football team.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will state the resolution by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 355) congratulating 
     the University of Delaware men's football team for winning 
     the National College Athletic Association Division I-AA 
     National Championship.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to the concurrent 
resolution.
  Mr. BIDEN. Madam President, having been here over 30 years, I 
understand the Senate rules and that you are not allowed to refer to 
anybody sitting in the gallery. So I will not refer to the fact that 
anybody is sitting in the gallery.
  I stand here with great pride that my alma mater, the University of 
Delaware, has won the national football championship for Division I-AA. 
In my 32 years serving in the Senate for Delaware, I have had the 
opportunity to give hundreds of speeches on the Senate floor. We have 
much more, though, than a national championship to celebrate. With our 
nickname, the Fighting Blue Hens, when we were recruited by the 
University of Delaware, we probably wished they had some other name 
like the Fighting Tigers or something; but we are Blue Hens. But we are 
the Blue Hens, and we are proud of the fact that year in and year out 
we have this long tradition of having a first-rate football team. But 
none like this team.
  This team played one of the most outstanding seasons in college 
football history with a record of 15 to 1 and setting a school record 
for victories in any single season.
  After clinching their seventh Atlantic 10 Football Conference 
Championship, the 2003 squad sailed through the division I-AA playoffs 
outscoring our opponents with a combined score of 149 points to 23.
  In fact, they won the championship game by shutting down--and since 
our Parliamentarian is a graduate, I almost feel badly mentioning that 
great college--Colgate University 40 to 0.
  My only concern was if we had another game, I would have felt very 
badly for whomever we played because they just kept getting better and 
better. You can imagine Senator Carper and I and Congressman Castle 
attended the majority of these games as devoted fans.
  As I earlier said, this marks the university's first division I-AA 
title crown, but we earned six other football titles as a division II 
school, including when I was there playing.
  The last division II title was in 1979. The reason I mention that is 
it is significant because our current coach, K. C. Keeler, was a 
linebacker on that national championship team. In his second year at 
the helm at the university, K. C. Keeler took this team to a national 
championship. K. C. is the first to give his predecessor, my old coach, 
Tubby Raymond, credit for having recruited pretty good guys to play on 
that team.
  Let me conclude by saying I am often asked why I ever thought I 
should run for President of the United States, as I did, and attempt to 
get the nomination back in the eighties. There was a simple reason. I 
learned early on, after being a county councilman and then getting 
elected as a Senator, I was given the honor of presenting the 
Washington Touchdown Club's Timmie Award. We used to honor the best 
``small college team in America.'' I had the opportunity of giving that 
to Tubby Raymond.
  There were people at an old hotel, including Supreme Court Justices 
and

[[Page 4026]]

others. I never saw my old coach flustered, but as I stood up, 
introduced by Howard Cosell, to present him with this award, I gave him 
the award, handed him the trophy, and he turned and said: You know, I 
just want to tell you, Joe Biden was one of the best ball players I 
ever had play for me. And that was just being a Senator.
  So I figured if I had gotten elected President, I would have been 
able by another means to be named what I always wanted to be, an All-
American. And that is the only reason I ever ran for President. I 
wanted to set that record straight.
  I am one of the best ball players Delaware ever had, which is simply 
not true. But I can tell you it is the only time my former coach was 
ever flustered. But this guy, Keeler, knows about my lack of talent and 
about how to recognize talent, and he produced the best football team 
probably in the history of the State of Delaware. We are here to 
congratulate them.
  I thank my colleagues for allowing us this time.
  I yield now to my colleague who is an equally avid football fan and a 
graduate of the University of Delaware.
  Mr. CARPER. Madam President, the first time I visited the University 
of Delaware campus was in 1973. My first reaction was: what a beautiful 
place, and it truly is a gorgeous campus. Later, as I learned more 
about the university, I learned they were one of the top 25 public 
universities in the country academically and have remained that for 
some time. We are proud of that fact.
  What I also learned my first year at the University of Delaware in 
the MBA program, fresh out of the Navy, was they played football at 
Delaware. I was a Buckeye of Ohio State in 1968 when we went all the 
way. I learned they were as rabid about football in Delaware as we were 
in Columbus, OH.
  During the years that transpired since I moved to Delaware, there was 
a time when the Dallas Cowboys rose in standing nationally, and I 
recall in some circles it was America's team. I was looking through the 
roster of Delaware's team last night to see some of the States our 
players came from. While I did not find anybody from Alaska, the State 
from which the Presiding Officer comes, I certainly saw a number of 
players from Delaware, from New Jersey, a number of players from 
Maryland, a lot of players from Virginia, California, Georgia--quite a 
few from Georgia--and Pennsylvania. We have players from South 
Carolina, North Carolina, Indiana, Connecticut, Michigan, New York, 
Florida, Arizona. We even have one, I say to Senator Biden, I don't 
know if he realizes it, but we even have one player on the roster from 
Germany. That is going the extra mile to get the kind of talent K. C. 
Keeler and his predecessor, Tubby Raymond, wanted to bring to our 
campus.
  I have been privileged to enjoy a lot of terrific sports moments in 
my life. This last year, the University of Delaware football team on 
its way to the national championship provided us with two I will never 
forget.
  One was a 51 to 45 win over Massachusetts in triple overtime on a 
blustery fall afternoon at the University of Delaware. It was a 
heartstopper. It was an amazing win, topped only by a 40 to 0 victory 
over Colgate on a very cold night in December of last year.
  I have been to a lot of games in my life. I have never been to a game 
where everybody on our side of the field stood up the entire first 
quarter. They never sat down. I have never been to a game in my life 
where everybody stood up for the second quarter, and third quarter, and 
the fourth quarter. We had places to sit, but nobody ever sat down. It 
was just the most incredible spirit or euphoria I ever witnessed.
  When the game was over, the players and a lot of fans rushed the 
field in the presentation of the trophy to Coach Keeler. The fans 
gathered around. People did not want to leave. I remember standing half 
an hour later at one end of the end zone with Congressman Castle 
looking out over the field and looking at everybody in sheer joy, 
savoring the moment.
  Another special moment was when Coach Keeler went into the end zone 
with Tubby Raymond, his predecessor and coach when Keeler was a 
linebacker with the national championship team in the late seventies. 
Tubby handed it off and Coach Keeler went on to the national 
championship.
  For some of the players who left the field that night, it was the 
last football game they will ever play. Others will go on to be greats 
in professional football. Some may be lucky to turn up as Rich Gannon 
did, who ended up being the MVP of the NFL last year, whether they end 
up in pro football or other athletic-related endeavors. Sometimes they 
go on to do great things with their life, such as Tyrone Jones, who was 
a freshman in 1982, one of the years Delaware made it to the finals for 
the national championship and did not make it by three points. Tyrone 
Jones is now New Castle County coordinator. He is in charge of all of 
New Castle County. Back in 1982, he was a freshman playing for a great 
team, and in 1983, 1984, 1985, he played free safety for some of 
Tubby's teams.
  Tubby Raymond, who is now in the Football Hall of Fame, had 300 
career wins. Ty Jones was on the field for about 20 of those wins. We 
are very proud of him.
  I want to say to those who might be watching from Delaware or here 
representing Delaware, whatever you do on the field or beyond, there is 
greatness to be accomplished, and we are proud of Ty and others who 
follow endeavors off of the gridiron.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator's time has expired.
  Mr. BIDEN. Madam President, I ask for 1 additional minute.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. BIDEN. Madam President, when the Senator was standing with 
Congressman Castle in the end zone looking at what was going on, I was 
in the other end zone begging Andy Hall to throw me the ball.
  Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the concurrent 
resolution and the preamble be agreed to en bloc; that the motion to 
reconsider be laid upon the table en bloc; and that any statements 
relating to the resolution be printed in the Record, without 
intervening action or debate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 355) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  Mr. CARPER. Madam President, will the Senator yield? I have to show 
one of the most beautiful newspaper headlines I have ever seen in 
Delaware or any other State. To all who made this possible, we are 
enormously proud.

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