    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2008, Book I)]
    [April 7, 2008]
    [Pages 483-485]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Honoring the 2007 NCAA Football Champion Louisiana State
    University Tigers
    April 7, 2008

        Good to see you all. Welcome. Go Tigers! Sit down. Please sit down.
    Thanks for coming.
        So I met some of these men in 2004; they feel pretty comfortable
    they were going to be back here. Some of them weren't so sure I was
    going to be back here. [Laughter] It's good to welcome you back, proud
    you're here. Nothing like being called national champs. LSU has the
    honor of being the first school to win two BCS titles. This year there
    is no split.
        I appreciate Les Miles and Kathy. Thanks for coming. Proud to have met you, coach. It was
    a great honor for me to have called you after you won that day. And I
    know you told the team that at least one guy called to congratulate.
    [Laughter] I welcome the LSU administrators, personnel, coaches,
    trainers, locker room folks, and most of all, the players.
        I want to welcome Members of Congress--Jim McCrery. Jim, good to see you, sir. And Scott and Clark, good to see you
    boys. Rodney Alexander--Congressman, good
    to see you. Charles Boustany--I'm glad
    to see you, Charles. Thanks for coming. I appreciate you taking time to
    be here.
        Out of the State government is State Treasurer John
    Kennedy. John, thank you for coming.
    Appreciate you coming up for that. Glad you brought Preston. Is Breaux here? No, he--
    [laughter]--he's working--[laughter]--which is a major upset--no.
    [Laughter]
        Winning requires very strong leadership; that's what it takes. After
    8 years of welcoming national champs, there's always one common
    denominator, and that is, it requires a strong leader to motivate people
    toward a common goal. And that's exactly what you have in Coach Les
    Miles. Coach Miles's 3 years has helped the team
    compile a 34 and 6 record. And this is a guy who's not afraid to take
    risks. He tried two fake field goals, fake punt, went for fourth down--
    went for first down on fourth down

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    15 times. Made it nearly every time. Of course, he had the players who
    helped him take that risk.
        He also had to deal with some delicate
    situations away from the field, like inaccurate press stories.
    [Laughter] Coach, let me just say, I know the feeling. [Laughter]
        This is Coach Miles's first time celebrating
    here at the White House. And a lot of folks are going to remember it,
    because it's the first time he's been seen in public without a hat on.
    [Laughter]
        LSU fans had an amazing season. They--first of all, in the season,
    the number one ranking changed hands six times. Of course, LSU was
    number one on the day it counted; that's why they're here. The--you had
    to overcome adversity to get here. You played as a team, and you won
    some dramatic football games. And when you lost, it was pretty dramatic
    too. You beat Florida in a comeback with the largest crowd ever to watch
    a game at Tiger Stadium. Two weeks later, you rallied to beat Auburn on
    a touchdown scored with 1 second left on the clock.
        After you lost to Arkansas, a lot of folks counted you out, but you
    held a team meeting and decided you had something to play for. In other
    words, you didn't let adversity affect you. You said, ``We're going to
    do something about it.'' And then you beat Tennessee to win the SEC
    Championship, and you went from number seven to number two. And you went
    straight to the national title game, which didn't start off so good. And
    yet you had 31 unanswered points, like a true champion team, to win 38
    to 24. And you're here at the White House representing LSU University as
    the national champs, and we congratulate you.
        Being raised in Texas and growing up in Texas, I've got a lot of
    friends in Louisiana. And you inspired people across the State. I
    thought Matt--quarterback Matt Flynn put it
    best. He said, ``You can't dream it any better than that.'' And that's
    what a lot of people were saying around your State.
        You earned your place in the record books. You scored the most
    points in school history. And the seniors will go down as LSU's
    winningest class. No other senior class has had a better record than
    those who are graduating here. [Applause]
        I welcome defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey,
    and so did the team when he turned down--when he decided not to turn pro
    last year. A lot of fans said, ``Thank you, Glenn.'' [Laughter] A lot of
    opponents said, ``No thank you, Glenn.'' [Laughter] After all, he was
    the defensive player of the year for SEC, Outland Trophy winner,
    Lombardi Trophy, and Nagurski Award. He'll have his time in the NFL, and
    a lot of teams are sure anxious to have him play for them.
    Congratulations, and welcome. Glad you're here.
        This is a team of great athletes. Two
    players were drafted by Major League Baseball.
    One of the stars, Trindon Holliday,
    holds the school record in the 100 meters. One of your linemen, Herman Johnson--he holds a different kind of
    record. [Laughter] He was the largest baby ever born in the State of
    Louisiana, at 15 pounds, 14 ounces. [Laughter] That's why he's known as
    ``the House,'' which puts him in good stead with his fellow teammates
    known as ``Putt'' or ``Surfer Boy,'' ``L-Crazy,'' and
    ``Cheese.'' [Laughter] Whatever
    nickname you prefer to be called, all of us here are calling you champs,
    and you deserve it. I want to thank you for being champions on the
    field.
        I appreciate you understanding that once you're a champ on the
    field, means you have a responsibility to be a champ off the field as
    well. And there's no better inspiration than Les Miles and his wife Kathy. They host
    events that raise money for the Children's Miracle Network. They're
    active in cancer fundraising and the Special Olympics, the Baton Rouge
    Children's Advocacy Center. I told the coach that I was going to mention
    this, and that is, I'm aware, as the Commander in Chief of the finest
    military ever assembled on

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    the face of the Earth, that he went to boost our troops in Iraq and
    Kuwait as part of a USO tour. I want to thank you, coach, for doing your
    job.
        I appreciate the example that Glenn Dorsey has set on the field and off the field to--he works to
    educate children about the dangers of drugs and encourages them to work
    hard. His advice is, ``Dream big and make things happen.'' There's
    nothing better than a champ to help somebody dream big and to encourage
    them to make something happen.
        And so when you leave here, I hope you leave here knowing that
    you've got a special responsibility, not only to represent your school
    on the football field but to help make America a better place, just like
    Ciron Black did when he heard the story of an 8-
    year-old LSU fan who was suffering from
    leukemia. And he took time to send an encouraging message. Then he wrote
    the boy's name, Mikey, on his wristband during the national championship
    game. Sometimes people say, ``I can't help because I can't solve all the
    problems.'' But in this case, he showed that you can help one person.
    And in helping one person, he helped the Nation as a whole. And I want
    to thank you, Ciron, for your leadership.
        There's a lot of great stories about the character of the people
    behind me, but it's getting chilly, and I'm looking forward to getting
    my LSU jersey. [Laughter] And so I want to welcome you all to the White
    House--to the South Lawn of the White House. I'm so honored and proud to
    welcome the LSU Tigers here as the national champs. God bless you, God
    bless LSU, and God bless America.

    Note: The President spoke at 2:08 p.m. on the South Lawn at the White
    House. In his remarks, he referred to Scott and Clark McCrery, sons of
    Rep. James O. McCrery III; Preston Kennedy, son of Louisiana State
    Treasurer John Neely Kennedy; former Sen. John B. Breaux; Jared Mitchell
    and Trindon Holliday, wide receivers, Chad Jones and Craig Steltz,
    safeties, Herman Johnson, offensive lineman, Luke Sanders, linebacker,
    Charles Alexander, defensive tackle, and Ciron Black, offensive tackle,
    Louisiana State University football team; and LSU football fan Michael
    Conger.