One of the mostsignificant stars in Super Bowl LVIII has a connection to one of the mostsignificant non-Super Bowl stories in sports at the minute.
The quarterback who backed up Brock Purdy at Iowa State is the older sibling of Iowa ladies’s basketball star Caitlin Clark. Blake Clark played at Iowa State from 2018-22, overlapping with Purdy’s time in Ames for 4 seasons.
In truth, they developed such a strong bond throughout their college days that the 49ers quarterback is consistingof Clark in his upcoming weddingevent.
Brock Purdy and the 49ers’ inspiring roadway to the Super Bowl
“Blake Clark is one of my finest pals,” Purdy informed pressreporters at Super Bowl Opening Night on Monday. “He’s going to be in my weddingevent.”
The eldest Clark brotherorsister didn’t see the field much throughout his time with the Cyclones, in part duetothefactthat of Purdy’s success. Purdy quarterbacked one of the finest four-year extends in the history of Iowa State’s program, leading the Cyclones to 4 successive winning seasons for the veryfirst time in almost 100 years (1923-27). He likewise holds 32 program records, such as death lawns (12,170) and passing goals (81). Clark, ontheotherhand, tossed just one pass in his college profession, primarily serving as the holder on the field objective group.
On the other end of the CyHawk competition, the moreyouthful Clark is making more than simply history at Iowa. She’s on the precipice of making history in ladies’s college basketball.
Clark has scored 3,462 profession points, simply 65 points behind Kelsey Plum for the most in ladies’s Division I history. She’ll mostlikely break the mark atsomepoint in Iowa’s next 3 videogames.
In truth, Sunday might serve as a unique day for both Purdy and Clark. Purdy might, of course, win the Super Bowl, however before the 49ers and Chiefs take the field in Las Vegas, Clark and her Hawkeyes colleagues hit the court to take on Nebraska (1 p.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app). Depending on how she plays versus Penn State on Thursday, Clark might be within striking range of breaking Plum’s record before Super Bowl LVIII kicks off. She has balanced 39 points per videogame over Iowa’s past 4 contests, so it isn’t unreasonable to believe that Clark will make history on Sunday.
Caitlin Clark GOES OFF for 38 points in Iowa’s 93-85 win over Maryland
For numerous sports fans, Clark came to prominence last season when she led Iowa to the nationwide champion videogame and was the agreement gamer of the year. But Purdy understood of her elite basketball abilities well inthepast that.
“Caitlin, I wasn’t around as much, however clearly simply through Blake, we’d constantly watch her,” Purdy stated. “What a baller she was from Day 1. Obviously, even high school. We understood that she was going to be a game-changer. To see her now simply definitely killing it, couldn’t be better for her.”
Caitlin has likewise served as a competitive motivation for Purdy.
“I think simply the grit,” Purdy stated. “Just the competitive, solid nature she has. When you watch it, it simply makes you desire to play. It makes you desire to play your sport well.”
Unfortunately for Purdy, Clark mostlikely won’t be rooting for his side on Sunday. The Iowa star is a widelyknown Chiefs fan, consistently revealing her assistance for the group on social media and participatingin videogames at Arrowhead Stadium.
“It was simply something all I understood,” Clark informed the “ManningCast” back in November about how she endedupbeing a Chiefs fan growing up in Iowa. “In our basement, we had a Chiefs vending device. We had those toy helmets that were the Chiefs. We would [put them on] and run around in the lawn and I would knock helmets with my siblings.
“But I had a lot of cousins in Kansas City that enjoyed the Chiefs. It was like a annual thing that we’d go down there and watch one of the Chiefs videogames. So, I’m not a bandwagon Chiefs fan. I was a Chiefs fan even when they weren’t extremely good.”
The Chiefs haveactually reciprocated the assistance as Clark hasactually endedupbeing one of the leading stars in females’s basketball. She was an on-field visitor of the group previous to its videogame versus the Raiders on Christmas Day, switching jerseys with standout novice receiver Rashee Rice.
Clark is likewise drawing appreciation from the Chiefs’ mostsignificant star.
“Tremendous gamer, remarkable individual,” Patrick Mahomes stated about Clark on Tuesday. “I’ve satisfied with her and talked. You can inform she likes the videogame, and she enjoys playing at Iowa.
“She’s going to be one of the finest college basketball gamers to ever play, and then go to the WNBA and control there as well.”
Clark will mostlikely be the No. 1 general choice in the 2024 WNBA Draft. However, she might decide to stay in college for one more season since the NCAA given professionalathletes an additional year of eligibility due to COVID-19.
Whatever Clark chooses to do next, Mahomes will be seeing — and just seeing.
“Hopefully I neverever have to play her individually, since she’ll for sure be getting pails on me,” he stated.
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