Remarks Congratulating
the
The President. Well, I thank you, and
thank you all very much. Vice President-elect Dan Quayle and Reverend Edward
Malloy, Coach Lou Holtz, Members of the Congress that are here, and
distinguished guests and players and coaches and the Irish at heart -- [laughter]
-- welcome to the White House. My life has been full of rich and wonderful
experiences. And standing near the top of the list is my long and honored
association with the University of Notre Dame and its
legendary hero Knute Rockne.
So, I want you know the INF treaty and George Bush's election were important,
but having the Fighting Irish win the national championship is in a class by
itself. [Laughter] And Lou, what you've achieved in only 3 years is inspiring.
Maybe you could coach Congress on the deficit. [Laughter] With Notre Dame going
undefeated this season, they might listen to you.
You
know, Coach Rockne believed there are no shortcuts to
success. Practice and hard work combined with respect for your opponent is the
path one must take to achieve the greatest glory. And as Rockne
himself once wrote: ``Sportsmanship means fairplay. It means having a little respect for the other
fellow's point of view. It means a real application of the golden rule.'' Well,
you young fellows here today are living proof of the truth of Rockne's ideas. All of you, coaches and players, have made
sacrifices and bore many a burden, and you did it all for one goal: to be the
very best.
Well,
as I mentioned when I was on your campus last year, Knute
liked spirit in his ballplayers. Once when he was working with the four
backfield stars who became known as the Four Horsemen,
one of the them, a fellow named Jim Crowley, just couldn't get it right. Now,
you know, I never tell ethnic jokes -- unless they're about the Irish.
[Laughter] But maybe today I can be permitted some leeway. Rockne,
who by the way was Norwegian, was commonly called the Swede. He finally got
exasperated after
Well,
at this year's Fiesta Bowl, you showed us what you're made of and reached the
goal of being the very best. The West Virginia Mountaineers didn't luck into
playing you for the national championship. No, just like you, they fought hard
all season and earned the right to play for the title of being number one. And
just like the Fighting Irish, they're a talented, well-coached team, and they
deserve a salute. Their records should make them proud.
And
speaking of pride, I noticed that Coach Holtz thought Rockne
would be proud of this team. And I'm sure he would be. Right now, I can't help
but think that somewhere, far away, there's a fellow with a big grin and a
whole lot of pride in his school. And he might be thinking to himself that
maybe you won another one for the Gipper. [Laughter]
Congratulations,
and God bless you all.
Reverend
Malloy. Mr. President, we are extremely proud of this team and of its fine
coaching staff headed by Lou Holtz. You have honored our campus twice during
the term of office as President, once as commencement speaker and honorary
degree recipient, which obviously makes you a Notre Damer,
and more recently for the Knute Rockne
stamp commemoration. We thought it would be fitting, on this time in which you
have honored the university and its winning football team, to make a small
presentation to you. Since I'm a little puny, I've asked two of our seniors and
leaders this year to bring over a particular plaque that I'd like to read the
inscription for. This is Frank Stams and Wes
Pritchett. It reads, ``Monogrammed sweater awarded to George Gipp, halfback of the Fighting Irish, 1917 - 1920,
presented to Ronald Reagan by the University of Notre Dame.''
The President. I think that's a great
sacrifice by the university. But believe me, no one could have it and treasure
it more than I will. Oh, thank you very much.
Reverend
Malloy. Thank you very much.
Mr.
Holtz. Mr. President, it's indeed a thrill for us to be here. It's the number
one football team in the country, and we're exceptionally proud of that. We're
also exceptionally proud of the fact that we've won an award for graduating 100
percent of our football team of 5 years ago. We also realize that to reach a position
such as this you have to be very lucky and very fortunate. We're also aware of
the fact that many other teams could have been standing here rather than us had
it not been for many good, fortunate things that happened to us.
It's
a great thrill to be number one, but it's also a great thrill for any American
-- it's a dream to be able to come to the White House to meet the President. I
know I speak on behalf of our football team when we say we're deeply gratified
and feel blessed to be here. It's been a great honor for us, but it's also a
great honor to come here representing the University of Notre Dame family.
We
have just a small gift, and we have three captains here, Mark Green, Andy Hech and Ned Bolcar. And we know
that you're going to be packing up, Mr. President. [Laughter] We just brought
you something that you can pack in. It says ``Notre Dame.'' It says ``Ronald
Reagan.'' And it said ``The Gipper.'' We brought you
a sweater that said ``The National Championship.'' But we brought you something
that signifies a great accomplishment for us. But we consider the
accomplishments that you've made since you've been in the Oval Office -- this
may seem very small. But we wanted to share our greatest accomplishment with
you, Mr. President. Thank you.
[At
this point, the team gave the President a football.]
The President. Right guards stick
together. [Laughter] This is a great day. Well, I won't find anyone else to
throw it to. I'll just hang on to it. [Laughter] Well, I thank you all very much.
Congratulations. Thank you.
The
idea of guards in the line, instead of charging forward against the other
linemen on many plays, backing out and coming out of the line and leading the
interference -- and I don't know whether I could have had a football career if
he hadn't done that, because our coach copied it. I weighed 175. And I remember
one day when the player opposite me on the line would go on to play with the
Chicago Bears and then later be 8 years all pro tackle, and he weighed 275
pounds to my 175. His name was George Musso. And I can't tell you how grateful I was to Rockne as I went back out of the line to run the
interference -- [laughter] -- made the job possible.
Well,
I've got to go to work. Thank you all very much.
Note: The President
spoke at