This keeps up, Saint Vincent College will be known for more than being the home of Steelers training camp. Really, has any school had a better run of commencement speakers? "For the second consecutive year, we have a Head of State," president Jim Towey proudly said yesterday to his 276 graduates and a crowd of 2,500 at the Robert S. Carey Student Center. A year ago, it was the leader of the free world, George Bush. This time, it was the leader of Steeler Nation, Mike Tomlin. "Now that," Tomlin said, "is almost comical." Maybe, but it was hard to say who created the bigger buzz on campus, especially when the graduates were twirling their Terrible Towels in unison. "I said last year we would try to get Pope Benedict The 16th as this year's speaker, but he was in the United States a few weeks ago. We got our dates crossed," Towey said. "But I saw him in Washington and shook his hand and told him I was Jim Towey from Saint Vincent College. He says to me, 'How did you manage to get coach Tomlin?' " Do you think Towey knew his audience or what? You have no idea. "Coach Tomlin doesn't need the Air Force to protect him. He has Troy Polamalu and that defense." And: "As you probably noticed, there are no protesters or picketers outside today like there was last year ... The Cleveland Browns fans couldn't find the Turnpike." Tomlin clearly had a tough act to follow -- the glib Towey, not President Bush -- but he did just fine. There was just the right amount of levity in his 15-minute speech, which he delivered, as promised, without notes even though this was the first time he did this sort of thing. "It has to come from the heart," he had said. So it did. "I ended up interviewing 89 prospective Steelers [before the NFL draft] and asked each of them what their commencement speaker said to them," Tomlin told the graduates. "They had no idea. "That got me to thinking back to 13 years ago this weekend when I sat in your chair [at The College of William and Mary]. I, too, couldn't remember a word of what our speaker said." That was President George Bush I, by the way. "That isn't too comforting for me today," Tomlin said, grinning. But it wasn't all laughs. Tomlin had a pointed message, comparing it to one of his pregame talks to his players. Not the one before the Jacksonville game in the playoffs last season, thankfully. That one wasn't very good. This one was excellent. "I want to encourage you to trust your preparation," Tomlin said, as if he were talking to Ben Roethlisberger and James Harrison instead of all those young faces looking back at him. "Trust what it is that you've done here. I tell you that you are prepared for the game of life. ... "I'd like to reassure you that the first five minutes of the game does not determine the outcome. We might burst out of these doors and have great success right away, but we can't wear ourselves out patting ourselves on the back. Or we might burst out of those doors and trip over a cord or something and fall flat on our face. The first five minutes never determine the outcome of the game. ... "I'd like to encourage this group to attack and to play to win. But it's also about how you play the game of life. You play with great integrity and honor and clbutt. You must give back to your community and make this a better place to live for all of us. ... "Lastly -- and I mandate this -- you must continue to dream the wild dreams that you dreamed when you were young. Dream, and dream big. But you have to make a daily commitment to take action to make your dreams a reality." The graduates gave Tomlin hearty applause. Towey gave him a Saint Vincent No. 4 football jersey, the number Tomlin wore as a wide receiver in college. Today, when Tomlin is the featured speaker and delivers a similar address at the William and Mary commencement ceremony in Williamsburg, Va., they'll give him an honorary doctorate degree of humane letters to go with the sociology degree he earned in 1995. "Evidently," Tomlin joked, "I've gotten a lot smarter since I was there as a student." I'm guessing the Saint Vincent graduates would tell the William and Mary students that they're in for a real treat this afternoon. Of course, that doesn't mean any of them will remember Tomlin's talk years from now. Or even next week. Tomlin acknowledged as much. But the Saint Vincent graduates are luckier than most. They left yesterday with three memories that will last a lifetime. One, the proud walk on stage to get their hard-earned diploma. Two, waving those cool Terrible Towels. And three, the joke about Browns fans. That's a pretty good day, if you ask me. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
