The President: All right,
everybody have a seat. Welcome to the White House. (Applause.) Let's give it up
for this quiet, reserved bunch called
the Seattle Seahawks. (Applause.) World champions. Best football team in America. (Applause.) I considered letting Sherman
up here to the podium today -- (laughter)
-- giving him the mic, but we've got to
go in a little bit. (Laughter.) Obviously we've got
some big Seahawks fans here today. (Applause.) That includes -- I know
there are some members of Congress here who are
huge Seahawks fans. We've also got the Secretary
of Interior, Sally Jewell, who is a big Seahawks fan. (Applause.) We've got Seattle Mayor
Ed Murray in the house, a big Seahawks fan. (Applause.) I want to congratulate
Coach Pete Carroll for his outstanding leadership. I think those of us who are in
leadership positions across disciplines, we're always
looking at folks who do things the right way. I think it's pretty clear that
Coach Carroll does things the right way and we're
very proud of him. Seahawks owner Paul Allen,
who has done a great job, congratulations to him. (Applause.) We've got General Manager
John Schneider who put together this outstanding
organization, but I'm curious where
the championship belt is today, John. (Laughter.) We are here to celebrate the
first Super Bowl victory for the city of Seattle. (Applause.) During the
regular season, the Seahawks tied
for the best record. Suffocating defense led to
-- led the league in points allowed, yards allowed,
interceptions, takeaways, turnover margin. They beat the rival 49ers -- (applause) I knew you guys would
clap on that one -- (laughter) in the NFC Championship
Game and then dominated one of the best offenses in
the NFL, beating the Broncos by 35 points. (Applause.) Of course, I don't need to
tell you how outstanding the Seahawks are because they
did a pretty good job of describing themselves as
outstanding during the year. (Applause.) You may have heard about
the Legion of Boom -- (laughter) Richard Sherman,
and Earl Thomas, and Kam Chancellor,
and Byron Maxwell, who combined to form the
best secondary in football. You had a dominating
defensive line with guys like Michael Bennett and Red
Bryant, Brandon Mebane -- and Brandon Mebane's belly
roll dance -- (laughter) all combining to -- we can't do that here
in the White House. (Laughter.) There's Super Bowl
MVP Malcom Smith. (Applause.) You've got breakout
star Percy Harvin. (Applause.) He's not here today, but
we've got to give props to Beast Mode --
Marshawn Lynch. (Applause.) I am sorry that
Marshawn is not here, because I just wanted to
say how much I admire his approach to the press. (Laughter.) I wanted to get
some tips from him. (Laughter.) It's about the action. (Laughter.) And then there's
Russell Wilson, who you may not recognize
because his locks are shorn -- he has cut his hair. (Laughter.) Where is Russell? There he is. (Applause.) I was telling him he
looks okay this way too. He doesn't have a
peanut head or anything. (Laughter.) So Russell has won more
games through his first two seasons than any
quarterback in history. (Applause.) He also became only the
second African American quarterback ever to
win a Super Bowl. And the best part about it
is nobody commented on it, which tells you the
progress that we've made, although we've got
more progress to make. (Applause.) And part of the reason
that I think Russell inspired a lot of folks is
he's been proving the doubters wrong for a very long time. For years, folks said he'd
be too short to succeed as a quarterback in the NFL. Five quarterbacks were
drafted ahead of him, which is a familiar story
for a lot of these Seahawks. You got three starters in
the secondary who were taken fifth round or lower. Nineteen players on the roster
weren't drafted at all. Last year, a pundit had the gall
to call the receiving corps "pedestrian," which I heard
made "Angry Doug Baldwin" even angrier. (Laughter.) So let me just say as a
guy who was elected President named Barack Obama,
I root for the underdogs. (Applause.) And so seeing folks overcome
the odds excites me. But it also excites me when you
see the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. And that's what
team is all about. And this is a team. And it's not just
about football. These guys have been overcoming
adversity off the field as well. They've got fullback
Derrick Coleman, who has been legally deaf
since he was three years old. I joke about Richard Sherman,
but he grew up in Compton amid some wonderful people, but
also gangs and drugs and guns. His dad had to wake
up before 4 a.m. every day to drive
a garbage truck. But because of his dad's
hard work and his family, and his mom, Richard ended
up earning a 4.2 GPA in high school. He won a scholarship
to Stanford. (Applause.) He showed kids from
his neighborhood that they could could make it. And if he seems a little brash,
it's because you've got to have attitude sometimes if you
are going to overcome some of this adversity. And the fact that he still goes
back to inspire high schoolers for higher goals and
making better choices, that's all-star behavior. And he's not the
only one giving back. Russell spends every Tuesday
-- even during the season -- visiting sick kids at the
Seattle Children's Hospital. Coach Carroll's "A Better
Seattle" and "A Better LA" organization works to
keep at-risk youth away from drugs and violence. Paul Allen's Family Foundation
has given millions of dollars for medical research into
traumatic brain injuries, which obviously is a
concern in the NFL, but also is a concern to
our troops and people all across the country. As a team, the Seahawks
raised more than $700,000 this year for causes like
supporting our troops and strengthening our schools. And that spirit of working hard
and giving back has endeared this team to its fans in
a way that most cities can't replicate. Now, part of it is you all
have that stadium that is kind of cheating, because
it's so loud. (Laughter.) You hired some physicist
to make it so. (Laughter and Applause.) There are a lot of
really smart people at Microsoft and up in those
places that can design these things. (Laughter.) So we can't talk about
the Seahawks without talking about the 12th Man. (Applause.) Last season, "the 12s"
set a record not once, but twice, for the loudest
crowd noise in history. (Laughter.) Now, history is
a long time, so that's really loud. (Laughter.) So loud on multiple
occasions, they've actually created
minor earthquakes, which is disturbing. And you should think about that. (Laughter.) After the Super Bowl, when they had the
chance to celebrate, they let loose in
true Seattle style. And while some got a
little carried away, there's actually video of a
huge group of Seahawks fans interrupting their celebration
to wait for the walk sign before crossing an intersection. (Laughter and applause.) So that's Seattle for you. (Laughter.) So congratulations
to the 12s, congratulations to the players,
the coaches, the staff, the owners. Congratulations to the Seattle
Seahawks and the whole city for an outstanding season. (Applause.) Pete Carroll: Thank
you, Mr. President. I can't believe I'm saying that. (Laughter.) Pete Carroll: Thank
you, Mr. President, on -- for all of the guys here
that represent this football team that represent so much
more than just ourselves, our owner Paul Allen, this
tremendous following that we have, the 12s are here again. It's a very, very special
opportunity for us. We're very thankful and
grateful to be part of it. You know, this is a bunch
of guys that came together. We were looking for -- to
celebrate uniqueness and differences, and this is a
different bunch of guys. Now, I'm going to tell you. And they've got a way about
them that's very, very special, and they've come together and
shared a unique mission and goal to do something really special
that we're really proud of, and I hope we can continue
to demonstrate that. These guys are that
kind of people, and so we're very
proud to be here. And I do know that you have
access to some of the great Special Force Units anywhere,
and you can do whatever you need to do, but I want you to
know that just a phone call away is the boom -- The President: The boom is here. (Applause.) The President: In case
we need, for some sort of special mission. Pete Carroll: That's
right, that's right. You never know, you never know. The President: All right. Pete Carroll: They will
just be a phone call away. (Laughter.) Pete Carroll: And so we're
grateful to be here. Thank you very much,
and we're very proud. Thank you. The President: Congratulations. Thank you. (Applause.) The President: All right. You guys want to (inaudible)? Okay. Why did you guys take -- let's
take this down and we'll get a good picture, all right? Hold on a second, wait. Sherman probably wants
to say something. He wants to -- (laughter and applause) Richard Sherman: We're
going to hold this up. You're an official
twelth man member. The President: Why don't
we put this podium down, and that way we can
get a good picture? Come on. (Laughter.) Male Speaker: Wow. (Laughter and applause.)
