[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.