THE WHITE HOUSE

                       Office of the Press Secretary

________________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release                                     March 13, 1995
				     
                         REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
                            AND COACH OSBORNE 
                 TO THE NEBRASKA CORNHUSKERS FOOTBALL TEAM
				     
                             The South Lawn

                             11:51 A.M. EST

     THE PRESIDENT:  Please be seated.  Welcome to the White House
on this beautiful morning.  I am delighted to welcome all of the members
of the national championship Nebraska Cornhuskers here, along with
Chancellor Spanier, your Athletic Director Bill Byrne and, of course,
Coach Osborne and all the players.
	     
     I welcome the Nebraska Congressional delegation from Nebraska:
Senator Exon, Senator Kerrey, and Representatives Barrett, Bereuter and
Christiensen.  I do want to say a special word of regret, too, that Bob
Devany couldn't be here today, but we all wish him a very speedy recovery.
	     
     I have been, since I was a very small boy, an ardent college
football fan.  I know that Coach Osborne's record alone justifies a
national championship, an 820 percent winning percentage.  Most of us would
like to have that here.  (Laughter.)  Cornhuskers have been to a bowl game
in each of his 22 years, and as I said when I called him the night Nebraska
won, nobody deserves it more.

     I want to congratulate your three first team All- Americans:
linebacker Ed Stewart, tackle Zach Weigert and guard Brenden Stai, and also
your three first-team Academic All-Americans:  tackle Terry Connealy, tight
end Matt Shaw, and the Academic All- American of the Year, who I just
understood has never made a B, Rob Zatechka.  We could give him a job here
at the White House.  It's sort of like praying for pro football.
	     
     I want to thank this team and this coach not only for winning
the national championship; that's obviously a great honor, but for the way
that it was won and the character and teamwork and spirit that Coach
Osborne has always displayed, and that this team displayed.  I think it
inspired people all across the country who are fans of athletics, and I
think even people who are not great football fans, or particularly
knowledgeable about all the details, who read about the Nebraska team, who
saw not only that you had three All- Americans, but three Academic
All-Americans, and who have followed the work of Tom Osborne over the
years; it inspired them all to believe in the value of teamwork and
sacrifice and discipline, and certainly you were rewarded in ways that were
well justified.
	     
     I'd also like to say, I asked Coach Osborne on the way out if
this was the largest football team ever to win a national championship, and
he said, yes, but they're good students, too.  I liked it because I felt
this is the only -- when those three guys walked out with me, this is the
only football team in America that could make me look like a ballerina --
(laughter) -- I liked it.
	     
     So I welcome you here.  I honor your achievement.  We're
delighted to have the players here.  And I'd like to ask Coach Osborne to
take the microphone now.
	     
     Coach?  (Applause.)
	     
     COACH OSBORNE:  I'd like to thank the President very
much for those kind words, and thank him for his time.  And I'd like to
thank the congressional group for coming over here.  Hopefully, this is one
time when everybody is on the same page, and voting the same way, and we're
pleased to have you here.  (Laughter.)
	     
     I'd like to also thank Chancellor Spanier and his wife, and
Bill Byrne and his wife for being here today, and especially thank the
coaches; they've done a tremendous job.  The rest of our staff, I think,
are a very committed group of people, and you couldn't ask for a better
group to work with.
	     
     And I guess, finally, I'd like to thank the players, because
this was an exceptionally focused group of people.  As many of you may
know, or maybe don't know, we came close a year ago, and I think they could
have gone either way.  They could have said, well, this is too hard, you
know, we came close, we didn't quite make it, or they could go back and
rededicate themselves and work even harder, and they did that, so I don't
think they're here by accident.
	     
     I also hope a lot of pictures were taken today, because
they're never going to look better.  (Laughter.)  This is as good as
they're ever going to look.  (Laughter.)
	     
                           END 12:01 P.M. EST