President Bush Presents CIC Trophy To Football Seniors
5/4/2001 12:00:00 AM | Football
May 4, 2001
The following is the complete White House transcript from the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy presentation.
THE PRESIDENT:
Please be seated.
Well, good morning, thank you all for coming. It's my honor to welcome you
all to the White House. I want to thank the generals who are here and the
members of the congressional delegation that have come. Most of all, I want
to welcome Coach DeBerry and the Fighting Falcons of the United States Air
Force Academy.
(APPLAUSE)
It is my honor to present the Commander-In-Chief's Trophy which recognizes
gridiron supremacy amongst our nation's service academies. The Falcon's
record of success in service academy football is truly stellar. They've won
this trophy 10 of the last 12 years, 14 times overall.
The seniors on this team completed their careers with a 37 and 12 record.
It's the next best record of any group of seniors in academy history, and I
want to congratulate you all.
(APPLAUSE)
I know you all take special pride in your coach. He's got an outstanding
record as well. This is the 12th time in 17 seasons under Coach DeBerry that
the Falcons have won the Commander-in-Chief Trophy. I thought it was
interesting that the first time he brought his seniors to the White House
was in 1986. Ronald Reagan was still the president. The Berlin Wall still
stood. Windows were something that you washed.
(LAUGHTER)
As Coach DeBerry reminded everyone at last year's White House ceremony,
presidents come and go, but coaches do not have term limits.
(LAUGHTER)
Coach, a word of caution...
(LAUGHTER)
... winning this trophy is supposed to be a struggle, not a hobby. And the
truth is, if you spend any more time in Washington, the folks back in
Colorado Springs are going to start saying you're out of touch.
I love Coach DeBerry's motto: faith, family and Falcons. This is a man who
has his priorities straight. And they must be, because he's not just
recruiting football talent, he's recruiting character. He's not just
recruiting to win football games, he's recruiting to win our nation's wars,
if we have one.
These seniors know that conference titles, bowl victories and trophies are
not nearly as important as the solemn oath they will take in just a few
weeks as newest officers in the world's finest Air Force.
THE PRESIDENT:
Today we honor the history that you've made on the playing field, but we
look forward to even more of the history you'll make serving our nation.
Coach DeBerry, if the past is prologue, I suspect, you too, will have a
bright future. And you've got an opener next season with another team that
recently visited the White House, the mighty Oklahoma Sooners. And my hope
is that you try to soften them up a bit before they play the Texas teams.
(LAUGHTER)
But it is my honor to congratulate you, and congratulations in advance for
the service you'll render to our fabulous nation. God bless.
(APPLAUSE)
?
FISHER DEBERRY, COACH, U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY FOOTBALL TEAM:
Mr. President, thank you so much. Appreciate that. It's an honor to be here.
Thank you, sir.
THE PRESIDENT:
Thank you.
FISHER DEBERRY:
Mr. President and distinguished guests, I'm very proud this morning to
accept the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy for the 2000 Fighting Falcons of the
United States Air Force Academy. You know, sir, the Commander-in-Chief's
Trophy is the number one goal in our football program every year at the
academy, and we humbly appreciate you having us here at your house and
having us here for this ceremony this morning. And incidently, we plan to be
back next year also.
(LAUGHTER)
THE PRESIDENT:
I'm sure you do.
FISHER DEBERRY:
Mr. President, General Daliger (ph) and Colonel Spetman, the coaches and I
are very proud of this senior class. They have distinguished themselves as
one of the best to have ever won the blue and silver of the United States
Air Force Academy.
Sir, they are the second winningest team in Air Force Academy history,
having won 38 games in their four years at the academy. They know how to
win, sir, but they possess great leadership skills.
FISHER DEBERRY:
The motto of this year's team was "Champions every day." And Mr. President,
these men are true champions, both on the field, as well as off the field in
every area of their lives, I can assure you.
In a few days, Vice President Cheney will be addressing the graduating class
and confirming these seniors as graduates of the academy. Of course, we
haven't had exams yet and some of these still might be a little precarious,
but I think they're going to all be all right. But we're certainly going to
really miss these young men on the fields of friendly strife and their play,
but we're excited about the qualities that they bring to our great Air
Force.
And sir, that's what Falcon football is all about. And they've
learned some great lessons, I guarantee you, on the national competition
level and it's exciting to see the superb leadership that they will bring, I
think, for our Air Force and as the leaders of this nation.
And now, sir, I'd like to ask our quarterback, Mike Thiessen who hails from
the great state of California, as well as our running back, Scotty McKay
from California, to step up and make some presentations. But let me, again,
thank you, sir, for hosting us and for a great day for these Falcons and I
can assure you it'll be one that they will never, ever, ever forget.
And sir, we'd love to see you at our Navy game next year. We play right here
in Washington at Redskins Stadium and you know that you've always got a
ticket at Falcon Stadium, though, sir, and we'd be honored to have you.
Men? Thank you. Thank you, sir. Appreciate it, Mr. President.
(APPLAUSE)
MIKE THIESSEN:
Mr. President, sir, on behalf of myself, the team, the academy and the
entire Air Force, we'd like to again thank you for allowing us to come here
and receive this trophy. As a token of that appreciation, we'd like to give
you what is, I'm sure, the first of eight Air Force jerseys which you will
possess over the next eight years.
(LAUGHTER)
As well as a hat.
?
End of Transcript!!
