Meet the Mannings

When the Make-A-Wish Foundation begins working on granting a wish, planners like to have a back-up ideas, in case the first one doesn’t work out. Schedules can be hard to match up, especially if it’s a celebrity wish — such as William Klick’s wish to meet Eli Manning. 

But William, an 18-year old on Longboat Key who has cerebral palsy, wanted nothing else than to meet the New York Giants quarterback. There were no second or third wishes. 

“If he wanted to go to Disney World, Make-A-Wish could’ve done that in 15 minutes,” said Paul Skversky, the Longboat Key resident who sponsored William’s wish along with his wife, Arlene. 

Most wishes happen in about six months, according to wish sponsors and Longboat locals Paul and Arlene Skversky, who’ve been sponsoring wishes for 15 years. Orchestrating William’s was a special case, requiring deep cooperation between Make-A-Wish, the Klick family and Manning himself. 

“We had to sort of go up the ladder and see what we can find,” said Paul Skversky. 

Travel is difficult for William, who needs his wheelchair and special equipment. Getting to New York to see Manning play in person would’ve been incredibly difficult, so a new plan had to be made to grant William’s one wish. Enter the Manning Passing Academy, a summer camp founded by the Manning family to help young athletes grasp basic football skills and hone their offensive skill positions, especially quarterback. The Manning Passing Academy is in Thibodaux, La., a much more manageable trip for William. 

“If Manning had done the wish the way they (Make-A-Wish) normally does it, we would’ve had 30 seconds with Eli before the game at Giants Stadium,” said Paul Klick, William’s father. 

Over the two years, it took balancing the schedules of the families and getting the Mannings to welcome the Klicks to the camp, which runs a tightly packed schedule. His wish finally came true over the final weekend of June. 

“Final credit really has to go to the Mannings to say, ‘Yes, come,” said Paul Skversky.

The Klicks and Skverskys emphasized the kindness of everyone involved, from the Mannings, to each other, to the woman from Houston Make-A-Wish who helped out through the process, to the folks who kept bringing counselors and players over to meet William, to the woman who brought them an umbrella to sit under on the Louisiana summer day. Every athlete they met was a class act, too, the Klicks said. 

“Everybody was just super nice,” said Julie. 

The Mannings have long been considered the “first family” of the sport, but where did William’s  love for Eli come from, though? 

By the time you reach the kitchen of the Klick home, it’s plain to see. New York Giants memorabilia is in every corner of the home, on every wall, in every room. 

“I’m a Jersey boy,” said Paul Klick. “The Mannings are like football royalty.”

The love was passed down, and now William roots hard for the Giants every week during the season. When his mother Julie played a video from the experience featuring his hero, William could barely contain his excitement. 

“He can’t talk, but he starts yelling when he sees Giants players (on TV) and wants me to come see,” said Julie. 

William also inherited his mom’s college alum fandom of the University of Alabama. The family has become huge fans of Tua Tagovailoa, Alabama’s star quarterback. The elite college players of today’s game serve as counselors for the middle- and high-school athletes at the Manning Passing Academy, but unfortunately Tagovailoa couldn’t be there this year. However, the Klicks did have a run-in with another college star. 

“We just happened to meet Trevor Lawrence (Clemson’s quarterback),” said Julie. “He was just so nice, we just talked to him and he let us take photos.” 

“We were afraid William was going to switch teams,” said Paul Klick. 

Unexpected but amazing meet-ups proved to be the theme of the day that the Klicks spent at the Manning Passing Academy. 

“How did you manage to meet everyone in one day? This is crazy!” said Paul Skversky, flipping through the photos. “He kept his promise to us with the photo of all three of them (Eli, Cooper and Archie Manning) together (with William).” 

When they got to the camp and out to the field, there was Eli Manning waiting for them. It’s clear from the joy on William’s face that there really couldn’t have been any other wish granted but this one. His hero spent a lot of time with William throughout the day, coming back and hanging out when he wasn’t busy coaching the next generation of football players. 

“Help me coach a little bit today,” he said to William. 

“It was very inspirational,” said Julie. “The kids were all starstruck. I guess we were, too.” 

After lunch, the Klicks got to go back out onto the field, spending as much time as they wanted at the camp. Those who ran it even asked if they could come back the next day. 

“William had a ball,” said Julie. “We didn’t know if we were going to make it through the day because it was so hot.” 

William literally got a ball, too, signed by the three Manning men he met. It’s now kept in a glass case in his room, near his other football memorabilia. 

“I think his face hurt from smiling all day,” said Paul Klick.