[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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