    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2006, Book I)]
    [February 14, 2006]
    [Pages 235-238]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Honoring the University of Texas at Austin 2005 NCAA Football
    Champions
    February 14, 2006

        The President. Please be seated, except for you guys up there.
    [Laughter] Welcome to the White House. January 4, 2006, is a day that a
    lot of Texas fans will never forget. I called one of those Texas fans,
    who shall remain anonymous. I said, ``How was it?'' He said, ``That game
    was the greatest day in my life.'' [Laughter] I said, ``Well, how about
    your wedding?'' [Laughter] He said, ``Yes, that too.'' [Laughter]
        I want to welcome Mack and Sally Brown here. Congratulations, Coach, for doing something
    that--[applause]--leading this group of great athletes to a victory that
    made a lot of Texans proud. I know you made a person you admire proud,
    and a fellow who I wish were here today, but he's not, and that's Coach
    Darrell Royal. We send Coach Royal--we send
    him our very best, and you're following in his footsteps. It's a--you
    know, you've learned something about the press, in all due respect to
    those that are here--[laughter]--they tend to underestimate people
    sometimes--[laughter]--as I remember, they started calling you ``Mr.
    February.'' Well, today, Mack, you're giving February--the title ``Mr.
    February'' a whole new meaning. This February you brought the national
    champs to the White House.

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        As you can see, you've brought out a lot of folks here to the South
    Lawn. We've never had quite a celebration this big here, and it's
    because there's a lot of Texas fans living here in Washington. But we've
    got some of the university officials with us. Mr. President, Bill
    Powers, it's good to see you, sir. I
    appreciate you coming, and your wife, Kim. It's
    good to see Mark Yudof and Judy, as well as Samara. Good to see
    you all again. I see the members of the board of regents, James
    Huffines and Rita Clements, other members of the board. Thank you for being here.
    DeLoss Dodds, I appreciate you doing a fine--
    there he is. Hi, DeLoss. Yes, sir.
        I want to congratulate the coaching staff. One of the members of the
    staff has had an influence on my life. I might ask him to come up here--
    Mad Dog. My body is what it is today because of
    Mad Dog. [Laughter]
        Jeff Madden. That's right.
        The President. I appreciate you. He told me once--he said, ``If you
    ever make it to Washington, I promise you, Mr. President-to-be, I'm
    coming up there with a team of champions.'' And he did. Congratulations.
    I didn't know you owned a suit. [Laughter]
        Mr. Madden. I had to get one made.
        The President. I didn't know they had one big enough. [Laughter]
        But Jeff is----
        Audience members. Oh. [Laughter]
        The President. Yes. One reason the mighty Horns are here is because
    they were in good shape, and they were tough, and they were in good
    condition. And the reason they were was because of Jeff Madden and his belief in them as athletes and his willingness
    to work hard to get them in shape. And so you guys keep listening to
    him.
        I want to thank the members of my Cabinet who are with us today. We
    appreciate you being here. I want to thank the Members of Congress--
    Senator Hutchison is a
    huge Texas fan--as well as Members of the House of Representatives.
    Thank you all for being here to welcome this great football team. Get
    back to work here quickly. [Laughter]
        The--Mack can tell you what it takes to win,
    but one thing it takes is a team of great athletes playing together.
    That's how you win national championships. I suspect it's the difference
    between showing up and, you know, winning all but two and showing up and
    winning them all, is that people figured out how to put something
    greater than themselves on the line--in this case, the University of
    Texas football team. This was a team that--great power, great finesse.
    They were real quick.
        But the thing that impressed me about the team and--you know, we can
    follow you here in Washington, DC, just as well as we can follow you in
    Crawford--is that this team never seemed--that they never figured out
    the word ``lose.'' It never entered their vocabulary. Every time they
    walked on the field, you knew they were going to win. And perhaps one of
    the reasons why is because they were winners off the field as well.
        I'm impressed by Ahmard Hall, who's the
    fullback. He--where is he? Where is Ahmard? There he is. He--I don't
    know if you know this or not, but he was a United States marine. Once a
    marine, always a marine. He served in Afghanistan and Kosovo. He entered
    the University of Texas on the GI bill. He's not only a fine blocker--
    you need to get him to Baltimore--[laughter]--he started something
    called ``Momma Bear Cares,'' which sends packages to our troops
    overseas. Congratulations on being a great player, but more importantly,
    a great citizen.
        Mike Garcia is with us. Where's Mike? There
    he is. Yes. I'm glad we're on the same side. [Laughter] Mike was
    involved in the Children's Miracle Network last spring. I take it you
    weren't a wide receiver.
        Mike E. Garcia. Afraid not.

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        The President. The point is, is that this guy was good in the
    trenches of football, and he's good in the trenches of life by
    supporting people who need our help.
        We've got some other--I don't know if you want to call them ``big
    uglies'' or not--but Kasey Studdard and Neale
    Tweedie and David Thomas. Where are those guys? Come on up here. The reason I--
    waiting on Neale to come down here. The reason these three guys are
    here--Will Allen was supposed to be with them,
    but I think he missed the flight. Slept in but--[laughter]--or study
    hall. [Laughter] These fellas took time out of their lives to go to the
    Austin Children's Hospital to bring some joy into a kid's life. You
    might have frightened them when they first saw you. [Laughter] But my
    point to you is, is that a championship football team is made up of
    people of character and decency.
        One final athlete I want to recognize is, of course, Vince
    Young, the great quarterback who--
    [applause].
        Head Coach Mack Brown. They didn't bring his
    suit.
        The President. Oh, that's all right. He doesn't need a suit. [Laughter]
        Mr. Brown. He was supposed to bring it--
    forgot.
        The President. Yes, you can borrow a tie. [Laughter] I think
    Vince will tell you that the reason he
    got to where he is today is because of his teammates. One reason why
    Vince got to where he is, as well, is because he understands that the
    role of a star is to put something back in the community in which you
    were raised. I was impressed by his being involved in a program called
    LEAP, which means, learn, enjoy, and play. It's basically a chance for
    somebody like Vince to go in and say to some other--to a young child,
    ``Here's what it takes to succeed in life.'' It's called mentoring. And
    all these athletes, whether they know it or not, are mentoring by the
    way they behave, by the example they set for young kids all across Texas
    and all across the country.
        I want to congratulate Coach and Sally for setting the examples they've set for these players.
    They're instrumental in what's called the Rise School in Austin. It's a
    school that helps infants and toddlers and preschool children with
    developmental disabilities. They're very much involved with the Capital
    Campaign for the Helping Hands in Austin. They, like these players, are
    good citizens.
        I also want to say congratulations to the coach for not only being a
    good--having a good football team, being able to raise these young men
    to butt heads harder than the other ones around the country, but nearly
    half the team earned a spot on the UT athletic director's honor roll for
    posting a 3.0 grade point average last fall.
        This team won a lot of football games and won the national
    championship, but of the 32 seniors on the team, 28 will have earned
    their degrees by the end of this summer--and one of those, who hasn't
    quite earned it yet, made a promise to his mother. And Vince, I'd suggest you honor that promise to
    your mother--[laughter]--and get your degree
    by the end of this summer, which I know he will.
        All in all, we're honored to have a great group of individuals,
    people who brought great pride to our State and pride to a great
    university. Welcome to Washington. Congratulations to the national
    champs, the University of Texas.

    Note: The President spoke at 1:07 p.m. on the South Lawn at the White
    House. In his remarks, he referred to Darrell K. Royal, former head
    coach, Mike E. Garcia, Kasey W. Studdard, and William W. Allen, Jr.,
    offensive guards, and Neale Tweedie and John David Thomas, tight ends,
    University of Texas at Austin football team; William Powers, Jr.,
    president, University of Texas at Austin, and his wife, Kim Heilbrun;
    Mark G. Yudof, chancellor, University of Texas System, his wife, Judy,
    and his daughter, Samara; James R. Huffines, chairman, and Rita C.
    Clements, vice chairman, board of regents, University of Texas

    [[Page 238]]

    System; DeLoss Dodds, men's athletic director, University of Texas at
    Austin; and Felicia Young, mother of quarterback Vince Young.