[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 42, Number 7 (Monday, February 20, 2006)]
[Pages 237-239]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Honoring the University of Texas at Austin 2005 NCAA Football 
Champions

February 14, 2006

    The President. Please be seated, except for you guys up there. 
[Laughter] Welcome to the White House. January 4, 2006, is a day that a 
lot of Texas fans will never forget. I called one of those Texas fans, 
who shall remain anonymous. I said, ``How was it?'' He said, ``That game 
was the greatest day in my life.'' [Laughter] I said, ``Well, how about 
your wedding?'' [Laughter] He said, ``Yes, that too.'' [Laughter]
    I want to welcome Mack and Sally Brown here. Congratulations, Coach, 
for doing something that--leading this group of great athletes to a 
victory that made a lot of Texans proud. I know you made a person you 
admire proud, and a fellow who I wish were here today, but he's not, and 
that's Coach Darrell Royal. We send Coach Royal our--we send him our 
very best, and you're following in his footsteps. You know, you've 
learned something about the press, in all due respect to those that are 
here--[laughter]--they tend to underestimate people sometimes--
[laughter]--because I remember they started calling you ``Mr. 
February.'' Well, today, Mack, you're giving February--the title ``Mr. 
February'' a whole new meaning. This February you brought the national 
champs to the White House.
    As you can see, you've brought out a lot of folks here to the South 
Lawn. We've never had quite a celebration this big here, and it's 
because there's a lot of Texas fans living here in Washington. But we've 
got some of the university officials with us. Mr. President, Bill 
Powers, it's good to see you, sir. I appreciate you coming, and your 
wife, Kim. It's good to see Mark Yudof and Judy, as well as Samara. Good 
to see you all again. I see the members of the board of regents, James 
Huffines and Rita Clements, and other members of the board. Thank you 
for being here. DeLoss Dodds, I appreciate you doing a fine--there he 
is. Hi, DeLoss. Yes, sir.
    I want to congratulate the coaching staff. One of the members of the 
staff has had an influence on my life. I might ask him to come up here--
Mad Dog. My body is what it is today because of Mad Dog. [Laughter] I 
appreciate you. He told me once--he said, ``If you ever make it to 
Washington, I promise you, Mr. President-to-be, I'm coming up there with 
a team of champions.'' And he did. Congratulations. I didn't know you 
owned a suit. [Laughter]
    Jeff Madden. I had to get one made.

[[Page 238]]

    The President. I didn't know they had one big enough. [Laughter]
    But Jeff is----
    Audience members. Oh. [Laughter]
    The President. One reason the mighty Horns are here is because they 
were in good shape, and they were tough, and they were in good 
condition. And the reason they were was because of Jeff Madden and his 
belief in them as athletes and his willingness to work hard to get them 
in shape. And so you guys keep listening to him.
    I want to thank the members of my Cabinet who are with us today. We 
appreciate you being here. I want to thank the Members of Congress--
Senator Hutchison is a huge Texas fan--as well as Members of the House 
of Representatives. Thank you all for being here to welcome this great 
football team. Get back to work here quickly. [Laughter]
    Mack can tell you what it takes to win, but one thing it takes is a 
team of great athletes playing together. That's how you win national 
championships. I suspect it's the difference between showing up and, you 
know, winning all but two and showing up and winning them all, is that 
people figured out how to put something greater than themselves on the 
line--in this case, the University of Texas football team. This was a 
team that--great power, great finesse. They were real quick.
    But the thing that impressed me about the team and--you know, we can 
follow you here in Washington, DC, just as well as we can follow you in 
Crawford--is that this team never seemed--that they never figured out 
the word ``lose.'' It never entered their vocabulary. Every time they 
walked on the field, you knew they were going to win. And perhaps one of 
the reasons why is because they were winners off the field as well.
    I'm impressed by Ahmard Hall, who's the fullback. Where is Ahmard? 
There he is. I don't know if you know this or not, but he was a United 
States marine. Once a marine, always a marine. He served in Afghanistan 
and Kosovo. He entered the University of Texas on the GI bill. He's not 
only a fine blocker--you need to get him to Baltimore--[laughter]--he 
started something called ``Momma Bear Cares,'' which sends packages to 
our troops overseas. Congratulations on being a great player, but more 
importantly, a great citizen.
    Mike Garcia is with us. Where's Mike? There he is. I'm glad we're on 
the same side. [Laughter] Mike was involved in the Children's Miracle 
Network last spring. I take it you weren't a wide receiver. The point 
is, is that this guy was good in the trenches of football, and he's good 
in the trenches of life by supporting people who need our help.
    We've got some other--I don't know if you want to call them ``big 
uglies'' or not--but Kasey Studdard and Neale Tweedie and David Thomas. 
Where are those guys? Come on up here. The reason these three guys are 
here--Will Allen was supposed to be with them, but I think he missed the 
flight. Slept in--[laughter]--or study hall. [Laughter] These fellas 
took time out of their lives to go to the Austin Children's Hospital to 
bring some joy into a kid's life. You might have frightened them when 
they first saw you. [Laughter] But my point to you is, is that a 
championship football team is made up of people of character and 
decency.
    One final athlete I want to recognize is, of course, Vince Young, 
the great quarterback who--[applause].
    Head Coach Mack Brown. They didn't bring his suit.
    The President. Oh, that's all right; he doesn't need a suit. 
[Laughter]
    Mr. Brown. He was supposed to bring it--forgot.
    The President. Yes, you can borrow a tie. [Laughter] I think Vince 
will tell you that the reason he got to where he is today is because of 
his teammates. One reason why Vince got to where he is, as well, is 
because he understands that the role of a star is to put something back 
in the community into which you were raised. I was impressed by his 
being involved in a program called LEAP, which means, ``learn, enjoy, 
and play.'' It's basically a chance for somebody like Vince to go in and 
say to some other--to a young child, ``Here's what it takes to succeed 
in life.'' It's called mentoring. And all these athletes, whether they 
know it or not, are mentoring by the way they behave, by the example 
they set for young kids all across Texas and all across the country.

[[Page 239]]

    I want to congratulate Coach and Sally for setting the examples 
they've set for these players. They're instrumental in what's called the 
Rise School in Austin. It's a school that helps infants and toddlers and 
preschool children with developmental disabilities. They're very much 
involved with the Capital Campaign for the Helping Hands in Austin. 
They, like these players, are good citizens.

    I also want to say congratulations to the coach for not only being a 
good--having a good football team, being able to raise these young men 
to butt heads harder than the other ones around the country, but nearly 
half the team earned a spot on the UT athletic director's honor roll for 
posting a 3.0 grade point average last fall.

    This team won a lot of football games and won the national 
championship, but of the 32 seniors on the team, 28 will have earned 
their degrees by the end of this summer--and one of those, who hasn't 
quite earned it yet, made a promise to his mother. And Vince, I'd 
suggest you honor that promise to your mother--[laughter]--and get your 
degree by the end of this summer, which I know he will.

    All in all, we're honored to have a great group of individuals, 
people who brought great pride to our State and pride to a great 
university. Welcome to Washington. Congratulations to the national 
champs, the University of Texas.

Note: The President spoke at 1:07 p.m. on the South Lawn at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to Darrell Royal, former head coach, 
University of Texas at Austin football team; William Powers, Jr., 
president, University of Texas at Austin, and his wife, Kim Heilbrun; 
Mark G. Yudof, chancellor, University of Texas System, his wife, Judy, 
and his daughter, Samara; James R. Huffines, chairman, and Rita C. 
Clements, vice chairman, board of regents, University of Texas System; 
DeLoss Dodds, men's athletic director, University of Texas at Austin; 
and Mike Garcia, offensive guard, Kasey Studdard, offensive guard, Neale 
Tweedie, tight end, David Thomas, tight end, and Will Allen, offensive 
guard, University of Texas at Austin football team.