Bush Honors Super Bowl Champs at White House
WASHINGTON, April 02–After throwing out the first pitches at Monday’s season opener at Fenway Park, the Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots topped that appearance with a visit to the White House Tuesday.
The team presented President George W. Bush with a team uniform with the number one printed on the front and back, and recognized the president as an honorary captain at a morning Rose Garden reception.
“I was really impressed by the character of this team,” said Mr. Bush, as he stood to the right of the glistening Lombardi Trophy. “What impressed me most was when the team took the field prior to the Super Bowl. It wasn’t one of these things where the spotlight was on any individual, everybody went out at the same time. I thought that was a pretty good signal to America that teamwork is important; that the individual matters to the team, but the team is bigger than the individual.”
Patriots owner Bob Kraft said, “We, as Patriots family feel·that we represent in a very small way what the President’s inspirational leadership over the last year has meant to our country, because we’re a team of underdogs. We’re red, white and blue, we put team first, but most of all, in the end, we were winners.”
Added Mr. Bush, “Most of all· I was amazed at the play and how they won. For a guy growing up in Texas, that snow game (the second-round playoff game against the Oakland Raiders) looked pretty rough.” Mr. Bush paused, as the crowd of more than a hundred laughed under an intense Washington spring sun. “But I know all the Patriot fans were thrilled with that game and the Super Bowl. I know you’ve got some great fans here.”
After the ceremony concluded, Mr. Bush centered a circle of Patriots players who held digital cameras and camcorders to record the experience and joked like high school students visiting the White House for the first time. Tedy Bruschi, Patriots middle linebacker, chatted with Senators Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., and Jim Jeffords, I-Vermont who also attended the ceremony.
Coach Bill Belichick said later that it was unusual to see his usually serious team so giddy.
Wide Receiver Troy Brown said at a press gathering that he hoped the team would have the chance to return to the White House to celebrate future Super Bowl triumphs. “I could get used to this,” he said with a laugh.
Mr. Bush even used the opportunity of celebrating the underdog Patriots to take a jab at his detractors. “I remember watching all the experts talk about the Super Bowl – no one thought they’d win,” he said. “They learned what I learned, that in politics and sports, the experts are often wrong.”
Written for the New Bedford Standard-Times in New Bedford, Mass.
