[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

[[Page 484]]

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

[[Page 485]]

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.