Clemson quarterback Hunter Helms learns from NFL great Peyton Manning

Hunter Helms was a counselor for the Manning Camp recently.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Tue Jul 19 07:00:05 GMT-04:00 2022

Clemson quarterback Hunter Helms served as a counselor at last month’s Manning Passing Academy, but the coach turned pupil when it came to listening to NFL great Peyton Manning.

Helms, a redshirt sophomore out of Columbia, was invited by Manning family patriarch Archie Manning to act as a counselor for the academy, which was held late last month in Thibodeaux, Louisiana. Helms told TigerNet everything about the camp was a learning experience.

“The only expectations I had were the ones that I knew of when I was a camper,” Helms said. “Just going in I had little expectations of what I'd be doing and stuff, but everything just exceeded all expectations I had. It was one of the best times of my life, just being able to be around such great guys and to learn from the Mannings. Just to be around the group of college quarterbacks that were there, too. We really enjoyed each other's company and just learned from each other the three days, four days we were there.”

Helms was able to spend time with new South Carolina quarterback Spencer Rattler.

“I like Spencer. He's a really nice guy and obviously a great quarterback and he was very friendly and we got along pretty well,” Helms said. “And me being from Columbia, we kind of talked about some good spots around Columbia to eat and just hang out and stuff. Obviously he can spin it very well and I wish him all the best this season.”

Spending time with Peyton and Eli Manning was also a highlight.

“Just being with the Mannings and being able to learn from them was great,” Helms said. “I'd say one key takeaway was we had a little hour and a half session with them, just the college quarterbacks and just the Mannings. We were with them a lot, but we did just sit down and just talk, ask questions and they explained everything that we wanted to know and just stuff like that.”

Helms said Peyton was quick to laugh when the players weren’t working, but quickly flipped the switch and was all business when it was time to work. He also said Peyton told them to put bad days in the rear view mirror and move on.

“He was telling us if it's just not your day or just things are going wrong, what would you do? He said the plan was to come to back to zero and just reset and take off from there,” Helms said. “That kind of stood out to me and I am definitely going to take that moving forward.”

Helms said the event also provided a little extra motivation heading into Clemson’s fall camp.

“Just throwing with some of the guys at the camp and just me being right there with all of them, it just kind of told me that I could do this and I can go with the best,” Helms said. “And we have a really good quarterback room, and I'm excited for the challenge. That's why I came here, just to challenge myself and push myself. We're going to have a great camp, and we're actually going to push each other, and it's going to be fun.”