    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2007, Book I)]
    [April 23, 2007]
    [Pages 468-471]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Honoring the 2007 Super Bowl Champion Indianapolis Colts
    April 23, 2007

        The President. Thank you all. Please be seated. How about it? Like,
    the Indianapolis Colts here on the South Lawn, congratulations. Welcome
    to the Super Bowl champs.
        I want to welcome Jim Irsay and Meg and Carlie, Casey, and Kalen. I had the honor of
    calling Jim after they won. I understand how hard it is to be an owner
    of a sports team and win. [Laughter] I never did it--[laughter]--but he
    has, and I congratulate the organization. I congratulate Bill
    Polian as well. I want to thank all the front
    office personnel, the schedulers, the ticket sellers, the travel
    arrangers, the people who never get any credit. I appreciate you being
    part of a fine organization. And we're here on the South Lawn to
    congratulate you.
        I congratulate the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts, Tony
    Dungy. And I'm glad his wife Lauren is here as well. Tony Dungy is the first African
    American coach to ever win a Super Bowl. That in itself is a great
    honor. But interestingly enough, he is a man who has used his--a
    position of notoriety to behave in a quiet and strong way in the face of
    personal tragedy that has influenced a lot of our fellow citizens. And I
    want to thank you for your courage.
        Alphonso Jackson is here with us,
    Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Prior to
    today, he told me he was a Cowboy fan. [Laughter] Like, what are you
    doing here, A.J.? Oh, okay, you wanted to see the coach. All right, good. Yes. I thank Randy Tobias, who was an executive from Indianapolis but ran our
    HIV/AIDS initiative--by the way, helped

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    people in Africa receive antiretroviral drugs. When we came in, there
    was 50,000 people receiving antiretroviral drugs; now there's 850,000
    people receiving antiretroviral drugs. Tobias, thank you for your
    compassion. Al Hubbard, Economic Adviser to
    the President, is here, Indianapolis Colt fan.
        I want to thank Members of the Congress who have joined us today,
    starting with Senator Evan Bayh and Susan. It's good to see the Bayh
    lads with them. Thank you all for coming;
    appreciate you being here. Dan Burton--
    appreciate you coming, Dan, and, Samia, I'm
    glad you're here. Thanks for coming, Samia. Mark Souder, Julia Carson, Mike
    Pence, Baron Hill, Joe
    Donnelly, and Brad
    Ellsworth--glad you all are here. Some of these guys get elected for the
    first time, and the first thing that happens is, the Indianapolis Colts
    win the Super Bowl. You're not taking credit, are you? [Laughter]
        I want to thank all the coaches who are here. I want to thank the
    families of the Colt family who have helped this organization flourish.
    I want to--most of all, I want to thank the players. I am proud of you;
    the country is proud of you. The people from Indiana have supported you,
    and you didn't let them down. As a matter fact, this is--last time you
    won as Colts, though, was 1971. Interesting, I thought about that. Most
    of you weren't even born. I was, and that's when they beat our Cowboys,
    A.J. [Laughter] But you've--as
    Bill put it, he said, ``Finally.'' And a lot of
    Indianapolis fans said, ``Thank goodness.'' They love to support this
    team, and you didn't let them down.
        It was a pretty tough season, though, when you think about it. It
    wasn't one of these runaways. It looked like it was going to be a
    runaway--Secretary Rice, if you want to
    come in, please, yes. So, like, you're a big Dungy fan, aren't you?
        Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
    Yes, sir.
        The President. That's right; that's what I thought.
        So the season started off good. Like, you won the first nine games,
    and then it appeared this championship team was going to fizzle; it
    wasn't going to make it. And so they--you lost four out of seven. And
    they started to, like, write you off, right? They kind of say--you
    probably--some of these sportswriters started to say, you know, well,
    they don't have what it takes; they can kind of do okay until it comes
    to the big one, and then they just don't have the character necessary to
    make it work. They did okay in the wild card, and you move your way
    through the playoffs, and then all of a sudden, the guy on Super Bowl 41 runs the kickoff back. [Laughter] I'm
    sure a lot of those skeptics were saying: ``Told you so; the
    Indianapolis Colts--good players, fine people--just don't have what it
    takes to win.'' But as the coach said: ``Our
    guys just kept saying, `We're going to fight; we're not going to be
    denied.' That heart will take you a long way.''
        And so this is a victory for good hearts, good hearts off the field
    and good hearts on the field. And we congratulate you. Thank you for
    winning.
        So a lot of people here in the White House compound have been really
    looking forward to seeing Peyton Manning.
    They wanted to see a guy who gets more air time than I do. [Laughter] I
    met Peyton Manning. He said: ``I'm going to be here during your
    Presidency. We will be here having won the Super Bowl.'' And sure
    enough, he delivered. And, Peyton, thank you for being a fine person and
    a good quarterback.
        I'm sure Marvin Harrison and Reggie
    Wayne are saying, thanks for being
    a good quarterback; thanks for getting us the ball. After all, these two
    players ranked second and third in the NFL in receiving in the--during
    the regular season. That's called balanced attack, particularly when you
    added that LSU guy, Joseph. Where's Joseph?
    There he is. Yes, sir. [Laughter] Congratulations to you. Dominic
    Rhodes led the NFL in rushing yards in the
    post-season.

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    You had people who can catch the ball, a guy who can throw the ball, and
    people who can run the ball.
        People held your defense as suspect, but not when it counted. I can
    remember all the analysts saying: ``Well, the defense is a little short
    this year. They may have the offensive firepower, but they don't--they
    can't play on the other side of the ball.'' Until it mattered, and then
    the defense stood up and helped this team become a Super Bowl champ.
        And so to the offense, congratulations on doing what people
    expected. To the defense, thanks for helping this team be here in the
    White House as well.
        I also--it's good to be in the presence of Adam Vinatieri--again. [Laughter] The man knows how to pick a
    winner--[laughter]--and help contribute to a winner. You know, in 2005,
    he didn't make it to the White House, and I asked why. It was a simple
    matter of he and his wife were having a
    child. I hope the kid is doing well.
        Adam Vinatieri. Thank you.
        The President. We're glad you're here, Adam; thank you very much.
        I appreciate what guard Ryan Lilja said.
    He said, ``The whole team has fought hard the whole season, through ups
    and downs.'' Isn't that what life is abou?; Isn't it, really? Through
    the ups--it's easy to fight hard in the ups. It's when the downs come
    that you've got to be a fighter. He said: ``I couldn't be prouder to be
    a part of this football team.''
        And I couldn't be prouder to welcome the football team to the South
    Lawn of the White House. I appreciate what this team does. I appreciate
    the example you set. I appreciate the fact that you understand that off
    the field, a lot of people are looking at you to determine whether or
    not they want to be like you.
        I thank you very much for the ``Bleed Blood Blue Drive.'' That's
    hard for a guy from west Texas to say--[laughter]--``Bleed Blood Blue
    Drive,'' in which you've encouraged 2,000 people to donate blood. I
    appreciate the book drives that you've held to promote literacy in the
    State of Indiana. I appreciate the food drives that you've held to fight
    hunger in the State of Indiana. I appreciate the Colts Football Fund.
        Most of all, I appreciate you all. Thanks for coming. God bless.
        James Irsay. Mr. President, we have a special
    gift to present to you from the Irsay family and the Colts organization.
    I knew that you'd love these specially made cowboy hats. We have some
    special dedications inside there for you, sir, and I hope you'll enjoy
    it.
        The President. Thank you. Thank you, sir.
        Mr. Irsay. You're welcome.
        The President. Pretty snazzy, huh? [Laughter] Yes, thank you.
        Anthony K. Dungy. And on behalf of the
    team, we got you a Bush Colts jersey. We normally go number 1, but in
    this case, we had to go 43.
        The President. Yes, that's right. Thank you.

    Note: The President spoke at 3:08 p.m. on the South Lawn at the White
    House. In his remarks, he referred to James Irsay, owner, Bill Polian,
    president, Marvin Harrison and Reginald Wayne, wide receivers, Joseph
    Addai, running back, Dominic Rhodes, former running back, Adam
    Vinatieri, kicker, and Ryan Lilja, offensive guard, Indianapolis Colts;
    and Meg Coyle Irsay, wife of James Irsay, and their daughters Carlie,
    Casey, and Kalen.

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