Cam Skattebo’s first season in the NFL with the New York Giants was going swimmingly — until it ended in one play.
Skattebo suffered a season-ending ankle injury just as his production, and subsequent stardom, was rising in the league. Alongside Jaxson Dart, the new era of Giants had proven they can go against some of the best teams in the league.
But when Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Zack Baun’s tackle at Lincoln Financial Field in Week 8 ended with a dislocated right ankle and open fracture of the right tibia for Skattebo, he was distraught.
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In fact, he told Kay Adams on “Up and Adams” that retirement even entered his brain after just eight games with the Giants.
“Yeah, definitely,” he responded to the host when asked. “The first month was kind of like, ‘Damn, do I really wanna do this?’”
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The shock of a season abruptly ending due to injury can do more than physical damage to a player. The mental fortitude needed to recover is just as important, and Skattebo eventually found it.
” It was seven games, I was like, ‘I got to go back and play.’ Yeah, there’s no shot. There’s no different story. No, it was the end of the year and I was like, ‘OK, I’m over this,’ you know, and I didn’t feel that way at all.”
But Skattebo, after a tremendous final year at Arizona State that put him on the NFL radar, made himself a rule for when he turned pro.
“Coming out of college, going to the NFL, I think I gave myself one rule and it was if I ever got a major injury, I was done playing,” he said.
“And that happened seven games into my career. So, it kind of sucked.”
Skattebo eventually found the inner strength needed to battle through his injury and its recovery.
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“I think that really helped me find who I am as a player and as a person,” he explained to Adams. “I was able to sit at home for 14 hours a day, do absolutely nothing for weeks on end. So just finding who I was, finding my happiness, finding the person I wanted to be on and off the field. And I think that’s something that I’ve built over the last nine, 10 months.”
Skattebo enters the 2026 season hoping to get back to his bulldozing self in the Giants’ backfield, which now features Najee Harris as well as Tyrone Tracy and Devin Singletary.
New offensive coordinator Matt Nagy seems to want to use all his running backs in a committee, but Skattebo proved to be someone that will go the extra mile to get first downs and cross the goal line — even if he’s carrying some defenders with him.
The fourth-round pick finished with 410 rushing yards on 101 attempts with five rushing touchdowns, while hauling in 24 passes for 207 yards and two more scores across eight games.
