INDIANAPOLIS — Arizona Cardinals rookie wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. has quite a few memories of Indianapolis growing up. Having a father who played 13 years for the Colts will do that to you.

But while the young Harrison admits some memories are a bit fuzzy from his time in Indy, the ones he made during Day 1 of joint practice in Indianapolis were anything but.

Harrison didn’t take long to make his presence felt on Wednesday. After drawing a pass interference call up against cornerback Dallis Flowers during 1-on-1 drills, the No. 4 overall pick had fans in the stands in awe.

Marvin Harrison Jr. just shook Kenny Moore II out of the frame during 1-on-1s. #AZCardinals #Colts pic.twitter.com/FuCun9fgd2

— Tyler Drake (@Tdrake4sports) August 14, 2024

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Come for the catch, stay for the route-running.

Harrison wasn’t just wowing the spattering of Cardinals fans in attendance, either.

At one point during the practice, a young fan was overheard as he walked away from the practice field where the Colts’ first-team offense was operating saying he’d rather watch Arizona strictly because of Harrison.

Harrison wasn’t the only Cardinals wideout handing it to the Colts defense, though.

Greg Dortch continued to do Greg Dortch things, burning defenders in the middle of the field. Michael Wilson remained consistent throughout practice.

The first-team offense as a whole had its ups and downs, though.

After starting off strong, the offense struggled to put a bow on Day 1 of joint work behind a botched snap, a few penalties and a sack on quarterback Kyler Murray deep in their own territory during team drills.

For Murray, these two days of practices mark his only action against another team ahead of the regular season after it was decided he would not suit up for any of Arizona’s preseason games.

But at the end of the day, Arizona’s offense put a lot of good on the tape, knowing there’s still plenty of work to be done in the Crossroads of America.

“It was good. High energy. I feel like the guys are ready,” wide receiver Zay Jones said post-practice. “There’s a lot of stuff we need to be better at, but overall, it feels great to come out and compete against a good football team and it’s great for the experience.”

Owen Pappoe keeps stacking days

The Cardinals offense had its moments throughout Wednesday’s work.

The same can equally be said for the Colts, who had Arizona’s secondary huffing for a good portion of the practice.

While there were groans on one side of the practice fields — where Cardinals receivers were taking it to Colts defenders — it was the complete opposite on the other.

The 6-foot-4 Michael Pittman Jr. was a big reason for that. Much like Harrison, Pittman quickly asserted his presence during 1-on-1 drills before kicking it up a notch in team drills.

One of the final plays of 11-on-11s, a deep touchdown over cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting, was the exclamation mark on his evening.

But while there’s plenty for Arizona’s secondary to clean up heading into Day 2, there were some positives elsewhere, most notably in the inside linebackers room.

Second-year pro and inside linebacker Owen Pappoe picked up where he left off from in Saturday’s 16-14 loss to the New Orleans Saints.

Snagged by @TheFreak pic.twitter.com/kVT83uKUpK

— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) August 15, 2024

Proving effective against the Colts’ second-team offense, Pappoe made easy work of a forced throw by Joe Flacco, snagging the interception and finishing things off with a jaunt to the end zone for the pick-6.

“It was cool. I tried to bait him a little bit. He didn’t even see me coming. I had a really good break and took it to the crib. It felt really good, especially it being Joe Flacco.”

“It feels great. I’ve been working with my DBs trainer. The exact way that I just got that pick right now, we run that drill all the time,” he added. “I gotta send a clip to him. He’s going to be real happy about that one. It feels great seeing the hard work pay off.”

Pappoe, who many around the team believe has taken a big step forward, continues to stack days this offseason and is seriously making a case for added playing time in 2024 behind Kyzir White and Mack Wilson Sr.

“Just feels great seeing the hard work pay off.” https://t.co/hVkhF0Au0G pic.twitter.com/JzfWvV37xm

— Tyler Drake (@Tdrake4sports) August 15, 2024

No fighting

Head coach Jonathan Gannon was confident there would be no fighting ahead of Wednesday’s action.

Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon remains confident there will be no fighting throughout joint practice work with the Colts. pic.twitter.com/MusxzOLufH

— Tyler Drake (@Tdrake4sports) August 14, 2024

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He was onto something, as nothing appeared even close to a disagreement between the two sides.

There’s always tomorrow, though.

Emari Demercado, others back

After missing some time with a shoulder issue, running back Emari Demercado was back practicing on Wednesday.

He returned to his first-team role directly behind James Conner.

Also back practicing were cornerback Garrett Williams and defensive lineman Justin Jones.

Up next

The Cardinals take on the Colts for another round of joint practice on Thursday before meeting at Lucas Oil Stadium for Saturday’s preseason game.

Follow @Tdrake4sports

A year after hosting the NBA All-Star game, Indianapolis will host the 2025 WNBA All-Star game, according to an ESPN report.

The Indiana Fever, anchored by back-to-back No. 1 overall picks Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston, are the biggest draw in the WNBA, selling out arenas and shattering TV viewership records.

In the 25-year history of the WNBA All-Star game, Indianapolis is one of four cities with a WNBA franchise that has never hosted All-Star weekend, joining Atlanta, Dallas, and Los Angeles.

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ESPN says an official announcement is expected later this week. A Fever spokesman declined to confirm the report, but telling IndyStar, “Indianapolis has a great history of hosting events.”

“Obviously, Indiana is known as a big basketball state, and Hoosier state, so I think having the All-Star Game here for the NBA is awesome,” WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said back in February. “I’ve been experiencing Indiana, and other than the snow yesterday, it’s amazing. The city, from when you land at the airport, the branding when you drive here from the airport, when you arrive at your hotel, the branding I think has been impeccable. Certainly, in my four years at the league, it’s amazing.”

The Fever had three All-Stars this season (Clark, Boston and Kelsey Mitchell) and sit in seventh place in the WNBA standings, hoping to snap a 7-year playoff drought.

At the mid-season break, the Fever were the league’s most-viewed team with 10 broadcasts that broke viewership records. The Fever saw a 264.6% increase in ticket sales (year over year). Indiana is the top WNBA team in total home and away attendance.

The WNBA All-Star game is yet another major sporting event for the city’s downtown, following the NBA All-Star game and U.S. Olympic swim trials. Add it to the Big Ten Championship game staying through 2028, Big Ten men’s and women’s basketball tournaments returning and future men’s (2026) and women’s (2028) Final Fours.

The 2024 NBA All-Star Game generated $290 million in economic revenue and $112 million in media exposure for Indianapolis and Central Indiana, according to a report released by Pacers Sports & Entertainment.

 INDIANAPOLIS — More people across the nation and right here in Indianapolis are experiencing homelessness — Sanctuary Indy hopes to provide a solution,

Sanctuary Indy has a new concept for permanent supportive housing starting with a five-acre piece of land on the city’s far east side.

Right now, the property sits on a completely wooded area at 10200 E. 38^th street, but by 2025 its goal is to be transformed into a tiny home community for those experiencing homelessness.

“We have permanent supportive options in the city, but number one there’s not enough,” said Sanctuary Indy Founder and President, Michelle Shelburne. “By doing tiny homes that’s being very proactive and purposeful.”

Shelburne has worked closely with those experiencing homelessness.

The project has been years in the making for her organization and comes as chronic homelessness is on the rise in the county.

“My family was evicted and when we were evicted we just couldn’t find a place to stay nowhere,” said veteran Antonio Wilson, whose family was homeless for six months before getting help from HVAF (Helping Veterans and Families). 

According to the Coalition for Homelessness Intervention & Prevention as of January 2024 more than 1,700 individuals in were listed as experiencing homelessness in Marion County including veteran Alan Stewart.

“I’ve been homeless, sleeping outside or at Wheeler Mission,” Stewart said.

He’s been struggling with permanent housing since 2010 and is now living in transitional housing at HVAF.

Stewart is volunteering there while he looks for a full-time job and permanent place to live.

“I can’t afford nothing cause I ain’t got a job yet,” said Stewart. “If I did find anything it wouldn’t even last 90 days.”

Sanctuary Indy hopes to work with other local organizations like HVAF to prioritize veterans like Stewart and those chronically homeless Hoosiers for its new housing community.

The tiny home village will be made up of 27 homes, up to 480 square feet each designed by the minority- owned business Next Great Architects.

Sanctuary Indy

The homes will be split into three-micro communities on the same property prioritizing veterans first.

Shelburne said all residents would come from the city’s coordinated entry system, which connects the most vulnerable people to housing in Indianapolis.

For the residents, the community would be much more than just housing.

WRTV

“We’ll also have a Missional living on the property with them so a missional is what we should say is a mentor,” Shelburne said.

The faith-based organization also plans to provide support services and case managers to tenants of the community.

“With the case management we’ll be going through working on those barriers of mental illness and substance use disorders,” Shelburne told WRTV. “Then we’re definitely working on the next level of getting into job services.”

Shelburne said tenants will be expected to pay 30% of their income toward paying their own rent.

“We believe everybody wants to give independently to their own monthly expenses,” Shelburne said. “The vision for the community is that people will not have just have a house with a roof over their head and a door that locks but they’ll have a home.”

The project is estimated to cost around $3.2 million, which the faith-based organization said they plan to raise through city and state-wide grants along with private funding.

Shelburne told WRTV the permanent supportive tiny home village would be the first of its kind in Indianapolis and across the state.

The community would focus on a nature feeling, with lots of trees, trails, and a pond.

Sanctuary Indy hopes to get the first phase of the project finished by the end of 2025.

They want to eventually have a tiny home community in all four quadrants of the city.