Peyton Manning Welcomes Caitlin Clark to Indy in emotional video
Peyton Manning sent an awesome message to Caitlin Clark ahead of the Indiana Fever’s home game on Monday night. ESPNW shared a video of Manning narrating Clark’s journey to Indianapolis.
“With your arrival, the excitement here is off the charts,” Manning said in the video. “Welcome to Indiana and your new home court. The whole state has the fever for Caitlin Clark.”
Manning has deep ties to Indianapolis as he played for the Colts from 1998 to 2011. During his time, with the Colts, Manning led the team to two Super Bowl appearances and one Super Bowl win. Fever fans are hoping Clark can do the same thing as she led the Iowa Hawkeyes to two consecutive national championship appearances.
Clark is having a solid start to her WNBA career. In three games, the 22-year-old has averaged 17 points and 5.7 assists per game. She is shooting 40 perent from the floor and 32 percent from the three-point line. Clark suffered an ankle injury in the first half of Monday’s game but was cleared to return before halftime.
Peyton Manning shows more love to Caitlin Clark
Manning is happy to see Clark in Indiana, but there is one thing about her that slightly bothers the two-time Super Bowl champion quarterback. “It’s awesome and, like I said, I really enjoyed getting to know Caitlin even more,” Manning said in a recent interview shared by the Indiana Fever. “Throughout this series, she was a guest on our show, the Monday night show, last year. She’s a Chiefs fan – I forgive her for that – but she said she did grow up kind of watching me play and she’s going to love Indianapolis. I gave her all of my contacts at the airport, at St. Elmo’s… and it’s a great place for her to play, I’m looking forward to watching her.”
Clark understands that there is a lot of pressure on her to be the face of the WNBA. “I certainly know there’s pressure there,” Clark said before the start tof the season. “That’s been my entire career. But for me, I just have fun playing basketball. I know this a team sport, it’s not all about me, it’s not everything I have to do. When I’ve been able to understand that, that’s allowed me to play my best, I think.
“I think it’s just using your resources, asking questions, knowing not everything is going to be perfect and giving myself a little grace. I’m definitely a perfectionist, but I’m at my best when I allow myself to have a little grace and not expect everything to go exactly as it should, but at the same time that’s what allowed me to be so great.”