NFL legend lambasts Caitlin Clark critics after earning impressive hardware: 'I ain’t gonna let it slide'

Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever are on a 6-1 run, with Clark seemingly running away with the Rookie of the Year award. Colin Cowherd and Nick Wright ask if the WNBA is doing enough to support Clark's rising stardom.

NFL legend Shannon Sharpe went on the defensive on Monday after Caitlin Clark was named the AP WNBA Rookie of the Year.

Clark had a long 2024 season filled with questions and scrutiny about how her game would translate from college to the WNBA with the noise growing as the Indiana Fever started the season 1-8.

But the sharpshooter blocked out the noise, and as she grew acclimated to the league, she thrived. She set WNBA rookie and single-game records on her way to an All-Star appearance. She then helped the Fever to a sixth seed after the Olympics break.

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Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark smiles at an official, Aug. 28, 2024, during a game against the Connecticut Sun at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. (INDIANAPOLIS STAR-Imagn Images)

Clark was named the AP WNBA Rookie of the Year and was selected for the All-WNBA First Team. Sharpe, on ESPN’s "First Take," lambasted her critics.

"I would be remiss if I didn’t say this," he said. "A lot of this noise came from people sitting on this network. They tried to minimize her, saying, ‘You’re giving her all this credit, what about the women that came before her?’ What the women came before her, what they did, cannot be taken away. That ain’t got nothing to do with Caitlin Clark. But there were a lot of people that tried to make sure to keep Caitlin Clark in her place because what you’re doing, if you give her all this shine, you minimize what they done."

Sharpe said praising Clark and recognizing her