Rosy day for the Pats

09:09 AM EDT on Tuesday, May 11, 2004

BY JOHN E. MULLIGAN
Journal Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON -- With a nod to their morale-building value to American troops around the world, President Bush yesterday hailed "the mighty New England Pats" for their second Super Bowl Championship.

The Rose Garden tribute was the second in three years for many of the players posing between the columns outside the Oval Office. But the event still had some of the flavor of an undergraduate field trip to a fancy museum.

Almost every outsized suit jacket had a button fastened, despite the 85-degree heat. Almost every thick neck wore a knotted tie. The young men squinting at the world-famous scenery might as well have been admonished by a coach: remember, boys, you're representing the whole school out here today. No horsing around.

AP photo President Bush poses with Patriots owner Robert Kraft, center, head coach Bill Belichick, right and the rest of the team in the Rose Garden of the White House yesterday

But Mr. Bush, fresh from the grim duty of a Pentagon viewing of pictures from the Iraq prison scandal, seemed pleased to set a light tone. "This is a pretty cool place to visit," he told the newcomers on the Patriots.

He kidded quarterback Tom Brady, "I'm trying to figure out what it's like to be around a real celebrity."

For owner Bob Kraft's benefit, Mr. Bush praised the Patriots' unbeaten record at Foxboro during the championship season. "That's really good marketing," he said.

The president told Adam Vinatieri, "I am really impressed at how cool you are under fire." Then he asked the place-kicker for "a few suggestions before a press conference, if you don't mind."

Mr. Bush acknowledged the presence of two members of what he called "the mighty Massachusetts delegation" in Congress, Democratic Representatives Edward Markey and Jim McGovern, who represents part of Fall River and the Rhode Island border towns from Seekonk to the Blackstone Valley. Also on hand were two former Massachusetts state representatives with big jobs in the Bush administration: White House Chief of Staff Andrew H. Card Jr. and Andrew Natsios, chief of the Agency for International Development.

AP photo President Bush honors owner Robert Kraft, left, Coach Bill Belichick and the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots in a Rose Garden ceremony.

Mr. Bush turned serious near the close of the brief ceremony, telling the champions: "You also know there are fans that are rooting for you who wear the uniform of the United States military -- a lot of Pats fans out there who are scattered around the world, doing everything they can to defend us and to protect us. They are cheering in places like Afghanistan and in Iraq and in other countries."

Mr. Bush kidded New England coach Bill Belichick about his terse remarks at the Rose Garden two years ago. "You said you were going to say a few words and you said like four words."

"I got carried away," retorted Belichick.