South Garden

two:27 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT:&nbsp Well, excellent afternoon, everybody.&nbsp Have a seat.&nbsp Have a seat.&nbsp It is my satisfaction to welcome the Alabama Crimson Tide back to the White Home — (applause) — and congratulate them on winning their 14th Countrywide Championship — their 2nd in a few years.&nbsp Roll Tide.&nbsp (Applause.)

I told Coach he's making this a behavior.&nbsp (Laughter.)&nbsp I&rsquom also pleased to see the greatest group in D.Do. large university soccer in the house.&nbsp (Applause.)&nbsp Congratulations to the other Crimson Tide — Dunbar Substantial University — on their town championship.&nbsp (Applause.)&nbsp Might have some recruits out listed here, Coach.

Now, we've received a whole lot of proud &lsquoBama followers here nowadays.&nbsp It is great to see Mayor Maddox of Tuscaloosa once again.&nbsp Mayor Bell of Birmingham is listed here, as properly as members of Congress, which includes a number of Alabama alums.&nbsp I also want to recognize Alabama Director of Athletics Douleur Moore and Interim College President Dr. Judy Bonner for their help of the ideal staff in university soccer.&nbsp (Applause.)

Now, obviously this is a group that knows a thing about adversity.&nbsp It was 1 12 months back following week that an F4 tornado carved a path right via the city of Tuscaloosa.&nbsp I traveled down there two days later on to see the devastation with the Mayor and the Governor.&nbsp And I&rsquove got to tell you, I&rsquod never observed everything like it.

And I keep in mind a thing the Mayor stated that day.&nbsp He explained that when a thing like that occurs, people have a tendency to neglect all their petty distinctions.&nbsp Items like politics, faith, race&nbsp&nbsp -&ndash when we&rsquore confronted with a tragedy of this sort of magnitude, all that just fades away.&nbsp We&rsquore reminded that all we have is each and every other.&nbsp And if you want evidence of that, just seem how the Auburn local community stepped up throughout that time of need to have.

The storm took the lives of 248 people, which includes six pupils.&nbsp And it touched this crew personally.&nbsp Lengthy snapper Carson Tinker&rsquos girlfriend lost her existence in the storm.&nbsp And a handful of weeks afterwards, there was new grief — for Aaron Douglas, an offensive lineman who handed away.&nbsp So this became a group in each perception of the term.&nbsp They remembered Aaron and people lost in the storm not just with their hearts, but on their helmets — with a houndstooth ribbon and the number seventy seven.

And then they took to the area.&nbsp They steamrolled opponent immediately after opponent.&nbsp They racked up an 8- record heading into the rivalry game versus LSU.&nbsp People named it the &quotGame of the Century.&quot&nbsp The leading two groups in the place — #1 versus #2 primetime countrywide television.&nbsp And it sent.&nbsp It was a defensive slugfest that wouldn&rsquot be settled till extra time.&nbsp In the conclude, one particular team experienced to drop.&nbsp And &lsquoBama gave up its only loss of the season.

Luckily, they received a rematch.&nbsp In the Nationwide Championship gameplay, the Tide not only conquer the Tigers they shut them out — the initial in BCS championship gameplay heritage.&nbsp (Applause.)&nbsp LSU earned just 5 first downs, crossed the midfield line only the moment, and have been held to a lot less than 100 yards.&nbsp

And it wasn&rsquot just the protection that played lights out.&nbsp Kicker Jeremy Shelley nailed a bowl-record 5 area goals.&nbsp Heisman Trophy finalist Trent Richardson rushed for the only touchdown of the gaming in his typical fashion — like a boulder rolling downhill.&nbsp Offensive lineman Barrett Jones summed it up fairly effectively when he said, &quotWe felt like we have been capable of dominating, and we did that.&quot&nbsp

So this team didn&rsquot just shatter documents.&nbsp I hear the championship trophy also took a bit of a spill — (laughter) — earlier this week.&nbsp

So this was a fun season to observe, but it was also a deeply significant season for the Tide.&nbsp And what&rsquos even much more remarkable is that these youthful adult males confirmed that results isn&rsquot about the personal — it&rsquos about the potential to function as a team.&nbsp That&rsquos why senior linebacker Courtney Upshaw handed his defensive MVP award to his teammates, expressing the entire protection deserved it.

That&rsquos why Coach became the 1st to get three BCS country wide championships, but he gave credit score to his gamers&rsquo challenging operate and persistence.&nbsp They played as a group since of what they experienced endured as a team.&nbsp And so each and every victory was about more than acquiring to the title game — it was about the lives of these gamers and coaches that they&rsquod carried with them and what they meant to every single other.&nbsp

Each and every of them located different approaches to honor these recollections.&nbsp Coach Saban started out a plan named &ldquo13 for thirty&rdquo that aims to rebuild 13 residences for people who lost theirs in the tornado.&nbsp Power coach Scott Cochran pitched in with players practically each Saturday helping family members recuperate and rebuild.&nbsp Courtney Upshaw lifted $ 20,000 in reduction funds for the impacted families.&nbsp And Barrett Jones lugged a chainsaw about Tuscaloosa to get rid of tornado debris from properties and yards.&nbsp So the Tide showed us what it takes to gain as a crew, but they also confirmed what it implies to be a component of a more substantial community:&nbsp to search out for a single another,&nbsp to aid.&nbsp And that can make them fairly specific.

So I just want to say to all these outstanding males and all the personnel, Coach and the complete Crimson Tide group, congratulations on an remarkable year, and ideal of luck following time.&nbsp Who is aware of, I could see you once again.

Thank you.&nbsp (Applause.)
&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp
COACH SABAN:&nbsp On behalf of the whole Crimson Tide Nation, we would like to make Mr. President Obama here a portion of our crew, for not only the assist and chance that he&rsquos presented our team to be listed here these days and to congratulate and honor them, but also the support that you made available and your leadership offered our community in a extremely difficult time last 12 months with the tragedy of our tornado.

It normally takes a lot of teamwork.&nbsp It requires a lot of tough function.&nbsp It requires a good deal of perseverance, undoubtedly a lot of constructive vitality and attitude to be productive, and a whole lot of individuals with a whole lot of discipline and duty to be accountable to do what they're meant to do — most likely some of the factors that our place tries to do, as well.

And we just want our President to be a element of our staff, and would like to present you — Barrett Jones will current you a gaming jersey.

THE PRESIDENT:&nbsp Now, that's a nice-searching jersey right there.&nbsp (Laughter and applause.)

COACH SABAN:&nbsp From the 2011 national champs.&nbsp (Applause.)&nbsp We would also like to give you a helmet over right here.&nbsp We surely don't want to be accountable for any head accidents that the President may have.&nbsp (Laughter.)

THE PRESIDENT:&nbsp I was mentioning yesterday, I&rsquom almost certainly planning to require a helmet between now and November.&nbsp What do you assume, Shelby?&nbsp (Laughter.)&nbsp Huh?&nbsp All right.

COACH SABAN:&nbsp Nicely, excellent.&nbsp Well, we actually –

THE PRESIDENT:&nbsp Thank you so a lot.

COACH SABAN:&nbsp We actually recognize the possibility, and thank you for your time to honor our group.&nbsp Thank you really much.

THE PRESIDENT:&nbsp Coach, I recognize you.&nbsp

Conclude
2:35 P.M. EDT

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