Denver Broncos, Super Bowl Champions

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President Honors Denver Broncos as Super Bowl Champions

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release June 16, 1998

REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
HONORING THE SUPER BOWL CHAMPION DENVER BRONCOS

The East Room

6:15 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Good afternoon. Thank you very much.Commissioner Tagliabue, Mr. Bowlen, Coach Shanahan, friends of theBroncos, I'm delighted to see all of you here. I want to especiallyacknowledge the presence here of Governor Romer and Senators Allardand Campbell and Hatch, Representatives DeGette, Schaefer andSchaffer, and Mayor Webb, Ms. Martinez. And I'd like to say aspecial word of appreciation to Secretary Federico Pena and his wife,Ellen. He has been Mayor of Denver, the Secretary of Transportation,and now the Secretary of Energy. And this is his last public eventbefore going into the private sector, and he is going out on a high.So, thank you very much, Mr. Secretary. (Applause.)
Let me say to all of you, I think every football fanloved the last Super Bowl. Denver had one of the toughest roads tothe Super Bowl in history, winning as a wild card team and a 12-pointunderdog, and won a magnificent game.
I learned that -- where's Terrell, where are you?(Laughter.) I asked him if he thought I would look good in thatfive-button coat. (Laughter.) And he said it wasn't presidential.(Laughter.) He was -- I learned in doing a little research for thisevent that he's the only person to ever win the MVP Award in hishometown, and the only person ever to score three rushing touchdowns.And not only that, he sat out a quarter, as you remember, with amigraine. So that's a pretty impressive performance -- runningbehind the lightest, but maybe the best offensive line in profootball -- as you can look up here, light is a relative term.(Laughter.)
There are a lot of things about this team I like. Threeof the players actually have connections to my home state, which mademe feel very happy. But I can tell you that maybe the mostremarkable thing is loyalty of the community, the steadfastness ofJohn Elway. We're sorry he couldn't be here and we're glad he'sokay. Fifteen seasons, over 48,000 yards, and he's the oldest personever to score a touchdown in the Super Bowl. That's like being light-- old is a relative term. (Laughter.)
And, Coach Shanahan, you've only been there three years,which is a remarkable tribute to your ability, and also to theteamwork of this team. I'm sure that every 1,000-yard receiver or1,500-yard rusher, or star quarterback who's ever been part of aSuper Bowl team would say that it's teams that win championships.And a great team won this championship. We're honored to have themin the White House today.
Thank you very much. (Applause.)