Questioning Caitlin Clark’s potential has become a trend. It was Antonio “AB” Brown, and now, legendary quarterback Robert Griffin III has taken up the role. Clark has not escaped the notice of NFL players, present and past. Though RGIII does not fully discredit Clark, he chooses a middle path, drawing parallels with other bigshots like Diana Taurasi, who reigned the WNBA before Clark.

The ex-Baltimore Ravens star played a reverse on the WNBA phenom after players started hating her after Chicago Sky’s cheap shot that left Clark being “targeted.” With this, Griffin III seemed to contradict himself as he fully supported Clark earlier.

Clark is a big name in the WNBA. After playing college basketball, the Iowa star was chosen by Indiana Fever as the No. 1 in the 2024 WNBA draft. She is one of the most hyped-up players, becoming the third player in WNBA history with 100 or more points. Because of this, RGIII cannot fully agree with the Clark terror.

He concluded that Clark’s predecessors had created a firm ground for Clark to soar high. “Yes Caitlin Clark has supercharged the WNBA’s eyeballs right but if it wasn’t for Diana Taurasi and Breanna Stewart and Kelcey Plum and Candice Parker..for me if it wasn’t for them there is no groundwork for Caitlyn Clark to take it to the moon,” confessed the ex-Ravens.

The Indiana Fever phenom has been the target of attack. Clark was shoulder-checked from behind by Chicago Sky guard Chennedy Carter before the ball was inbounded during the June 1 game. Initially, she was knocked down in a non-basketball play, leading to a common foul. However, the next day’s review was upgraded to a flagrant foul 1 by the WNBA.

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UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma stood in Clark’s support. “Is she facing the rookie challenge, the rookie hardships that are inherent with being a rookie? Yes. She’s also being targeted,” pointed out the coach. Even though Clark’s college team, Iowa, defeated UConn in the semi-finals this year, unexpectedly, the coach supported her. What also was unexpected was that RGIII stirred up WNBA fans with the Caitlin Clark question since he has been one of her biggest backers.

RGIII’s contradictory statements on Clark

Griffin’s stance on Caitlin Clark shifted suddenly in just a few days. Initially, all the NFL legend had for CC was respect for her competitive nature. In his May 31 X post, he showered praise on the WNBA phenom, “Caitlin Clark has SUPERCHARGED Women’s Basketball. She is a STAR.”

The X post that followed openly addressed how she had been heckled during the match against Chicago Sky. “Okay, this IS HATING on Caitlin Clark. Face guarding, extremely aggressive play and the occasional hard foul can be describe as competitiveness. Going out of your way to call her out of her name and body check her to the floor without the ball is HATING,” came RGIII’s confident stance.

However, the targets are natural because of the charges of jealousy. The 22-year-old WNBA star is making $20 million a year and is already one of the Top 10 players in the whole league. Hence, Clark will remain a focus of criticism.