[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

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