The latest Alabama trip to the White House East Room ran a few minutes behind schedule. When it began Wednesday afternoon, President Barack Obama had a few one-liners prepared.
Being the fourth such trip made in his presidency, Obama made that a theme.
"I guess for a lot of folks," he said, "it's welcome back."
The traditional welcomes included Alabama governor Robert Bentley and other dignitaries packed into the room. Obama praised the Crimson Tide's work ethic and mentioned a previous meeting with Derrick Henry at the National Prayer Breakfast. Obama was touched by the Heisman Trophy winner saying his prayer for all the people who could not eat breakfast that day.
Obama also noted the 16th Habitat for Humanity house that'll be built in Tuscaloosa to honor the latest championship.
In the middle of a politically charged week, Obama made the room laugh a few times during his nearly seven-minute speech. Here are a few of the highlights with a tag-team joke with Nick Saban at the end.
-- "My first question is, coach, what took you so long? It's been three whole years since I last saw you."
-- "Of course, a lot of recognition goes to somebody who's in the running to be the greatest college football coach of all time, Coach Nick Saban." (Not exactly funny, but notable)
-- "This is the fourth time I've hosted Alabama here at the White House. So clearly, I brought you some good luck."
-- "You can call me 'O-bama," the president said as the room laughed. "You like that?"
-- "The last time a team went on this kind of run was in the 1940s. Back then, folks were still wearing leather helmets. I don't feel like anybody in a leather helmet would do too well to trying to tackle Derrick Henry. Even with regular helmets, they didn't do too well."
-- "... Linebacker Reggie Ragland, who returned for his senior year to make good on a pledge he made to his momma that he'd get a degree. Just because he's big does not mean he's not scared of his momma."
-- "... a surprise fourth-quarter onside kick. That was one of the few times you saw Coach Saban smile on the sidelines."
-- "I know the people of Alabama are extraordinarily proud of this team, maybe the Auburn fans don't want to admit it, but everyone recognizes excellence when they see it and nobody's had more sustained excellence as a program at the collegiate level than the Alabama Crimson Tide."
-- "I'd like to say I'll see you next year, but we have this thing called term limits. So you can keep on going."
-- Saban: "Our captains would like to present you again." Obama: "I have a lot of these jerseys."
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