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New York Giants running back Cam Skattebo does a back flip after scoring as wide receiver Darius Slayton, left, and wide receiver Wan\u2019Dale Robinson, center, watch during the first half of an NFL football game against the Kansas City Chiefs in East Rutherford, N.J. (Photo by Seth Wenig\/Associated Press)<\/p>\n
PHOENIX \u2013 In 2019, a 5-foot-10, 200-pound running back was the talk of the town in Rio Linda, California. With a signature surname and a personality that screams, literally, for anyone\u2019s attention, Cam Skattebo was destined for big things.<\/p>\n
The only problem: Nobody outside of the nearly 17,000 people in his hometown knew about him. Although college football programs recruited him, schools such as UCLA visited but didn\u2019t view him as a priority target.<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t receive any scholarship offers. When he visited UCLA, the Bruins were working hard to land Salpointe Catholic\u2019s Bijan Robinson (who later enrolled at Texas and now stars for the Atlanta Falcons). Skattebo was thrown on the back burner, as a last resort option.<\/p>\n
UCLA didn\u2019t even spell his name correctly on his name tag for his unofficial visit.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn my mind, I\u2019m thinking he is really getting sold short,\u201d said Rio Linda High School football coach Jack Garceau, who coached Skattebo for three seasons. \u201cI could not get a straight answer as to why people felt the way they did. Maybe it was his height, maybe it was his lack of speed, maybe it was the fact that he was a white running back. I never really got that perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n
After bulldozing through two seasons at Sacramento State, becoming a College Football Playoff darling at Arizona State, and now taking the leading role in the backfield for the New York Giants, no one is questioning his ability on the field anymore.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s his boisterous personality that has grasped the attention of the nation, with his celebratory backflips and bruising runs turning him into a rookie sensation in New York, New Jersey and the hearts of old school, hard-nosed football fans everywhere.<\/p>\n
Setting the tone<\/p>\n
Skattebo has become beloved in sport\u2019s biggest market, and with one of the NFL\u2019s most desperate fan bases. The New York Giants have managed just two winning seasons in the past decade, despite having rosters littered with stars such as Saquon Barkley, Odell Beckham Jr. and two-time Super Bowl champion Eli Manning.<\/p>\n
Losing is often described as a feeling worse than the thrill of victory. Big Blue has been feeling blue since its Super Bowl win over the New England Patriots in 2012.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver the last decade it\u2019s probably been the worst culture that I\u2019ve seen,\u201d FOX Sports NFL reporter Ralph Vacchiano said. \u201cIt\u2019s not like there are bad guys, they\u2019re not loaded with criminals, but there\u2019s this losing feeling. They don\u2019t have a direction. If you look back over the last 10 years, the amount of times they\u2019ve changed coaches and general managers and quarterbacks, you\u2019re going to see that affects the players. A lot are there for a couple of years, they do nothing but lose, and they move one. <\/p>\n
\u201cEven for professional athletes, that weighs on you.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 2025 season hasn\u2019t flipped that narrative, with the Giants starting 2-4 and sitting in last place in the NFC East. However, Skattebo and rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart have created a new buzz in East Rutherford that has inspired an upswing.<\/p>\n
Skattebo initially put himself on the national radar with 121 yards from scrimmage against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 3, adding a touchdown run with a backflip for good measure. He ranks third among rookie running backs this season with 338 rushing yards.<\/p>\n
Anybody who walks the hallways of the Giants facilities or in the tunnel of MetLife Stadium before a game can hear the echoes of Skattebo\u2019s best Ric Flair impression. <\/p>\n
Or in the middle of position meetings. <\/p>\n
Or in the middle of coach Brian Daboll\u2019s media availability.<\/p>\n
There’s no one quite like Cam Skattebo \ud83e\udd23 pic.twitter.com\/Lu3CHjYx0T<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 New York Giants (@Giants) September 19, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a daily thing,\u201d Daboll said with a smirk.<\/p>\n The screaming around the facility is something Skattebo was known for in Tempe as well. He would let out primal yells and crash ASU coach Kenny Dillingham\u2019s press conferences as a way to unload his infectious energy.<\/p>\n Dillingham loves to watch Skattebo\u2019s joy for the game, rather than the touchdowns and the ensuing acrobatics.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s the childhood game that he still gets to play, and he gets to do it for a living,\u201d Dillingham said. \u201cIf it\u2019s something you have to do versus something you love to do, eventually when talent catches up, what is the separating factor? Skatt\u2019s separating factor is his mentality, and nobody can ever take that away from him.\u201d<\/p>\n A perfect scenario Arizona State brought out the best in running back Cam Skattebo, who not only contributed on the field but was able to be himself. (File photo by Dani Trujillo\/Cronkite News)<\/p>\n The rookie fourth-round pick has built quite the reputation in just a few months with the Giants. His chaotic energy has sparked optimism within the locker room and invigorated a fan base into believing that he and Dart could lead a new era of Giants football.<\/p>\n \u201cDart and Skattebo represent a youthful energy that the franchise really needed,\u201d Vacchiano said. \u201cNeither of them come in with the baggage of the last two, three, five years. They\u2019re all about hope. Other players can start to feed off that. I think that they\u2019re bringing the attitude not only in their play, but in their words and leadership.<\/p>\n \u201cI had player after player tell me, \u2018How can you not feed off that? If he\u2019s running hard, I\u2019m going to run hard.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Skattebo\u2019s wild spurts of energy and mentality to seek out contact when running the football hasn\u2019t always garnered the same positive reception. Garceau said Skattebo had a fumbling problem at times in high school, which he worked hard to overcome. Skattebo has fumbled just once so far in his young NFL career, and never put the ball on the ground in his two seasons at ASU.<\/p>\n At Rio Linda High, Skattebo took his role as a leader very seriously. His loud and brash nature was prevalent for him as a teenager, but not as well received.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of immaturity that goes along with (Skattebo\u2019s fiery personality), with your emotions swinging one way or another,\u201d Garceau said. \u201cSometimes that stuff would come off as negative. He was fiery and he would jump down somebody\u2019s throat, and from a coach\u2019s perspective, you understand what he\u2019s doing. But he was on a different level that other kids and parents didn\u2019t understand, so it came off as negative.\u201d<\/p>\n Rio Linda won a state championship during Skattebo\u2019s junior season, in which he was instrumental to the Knights\u2019 success. He carried the ball 305 times that year, picking up a staggering 3,550 yards on the ground along with 42 touchdowns.<\/p>\n He still wound up with no scholarship offers and not a single star to his name.<\/p>\n \u201cI had a conversation with him before he went to Sac State,\u201d Garceau said. \u201cI said, \u2018If you let down that tough guy exterior and show people that there\u2019s something else inside other than you\u2019re angry all the time, and show that emotion and show that you\u2019re bought in and all you want to do is win, you would be beloved.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Two seasons at Sacramento State allowed Skattebo the opportunity to transfer to a Power Four program in Arizona State, which was beginning a rebuild in 2023 under first-time head coach Kenny Dillingham. Skattebo and his new coach reshaped the program in two seasons, taking home a Big 12 championship in 2024. In his senior season with the Sun Devils, Skattebo finished fifth in the voting for the Heisman Trophy.<\/p>\n The energy between Dillingham and Skattebo matched perfectly, and at times it seemed like one was always trying to top the other. Two years in Tempe alongside Dillingham allowed Skattebo a chance to harness his angry energy on the field into a more connective passion that brought his team together.<\/p>\n Cam Skattebo crashes Kenny Dillingham\u2019s press conference@InfernoIntel<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/pExtF2tARf<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Logan Brown (@LoganABrown) October 6, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI think things really resonated between him and Dillingham when he got to Arizona State,\u201d Garceau said. \u201cIt was one of those perfect scenarios that he kind of fell into. Right place, right time, right circumstances, and it brought out the best in him. \u2026 That fire doesn\u2019t always have to be a negative thing. It could be a very positive thing that people catch on to and it becomes infectious.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018He\u2019s genuinely an idiot\u2019<\/p>\n The Giants have gravitated toward the spotlight Skattebo has helped place on the team. Nothing fixes a bad culture like winning, but to get there, an organization needs players like Skattebo to lay the groundwork.<\/p>\n Dart, a second-round pick from Ole Miss, quickly became friends with Skattebo during rookie mini camp. The pair got to know each other on a plane ride to the NFLPA\u2019s rookie event in May. It was a perfect opportunity for Skattebo to introduce himself in the only way he can.<\/p>\n \u201cI fell asleep on the plane and I wake up to this dude wet-willying me and trying to put food on my face while I\u2019m sleeping,\u201d Dart told ESPN\u2019s Jordan Raanan<\/a>. \u201cThat is kind of an accurate representation. It\u2019s 100% [who he is].\u201d<\/p>\n Dart is the piece to the puzzle Giants fans will be keeping a much closer eye on. His relationship with Skattebo has bonded them into a dynamic duo of sorts, with the sole goal of saving the organization from years of misery. Like Batman and Robin, Dart and Skattebo are ready to restore faith in Gotham\u2019s football fans.<\/p>\n \u201cSkatt\u2019s somebody who it doesn\u2019t matter where he is or who he is around,\u201d Dart said. \u201cHe just acts himself. I think that is something early on people try to figure out when you don\u2019t really know a guy. But when you figure out that it\u2019s genuine, you figure out what kind of friend he is, what kind of teammate he is. He\u2019ll do anything it takes to win.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s impossible to change a franchise overnight, but the Giants have found a pair of rookies to bump the excitement level. With similar mentalities and motivations, they are building the proper culture to win in a big city.<\/p>\n Give us your best Cam Skattebo \ud83d\udc79 pic.twitter.com\/laUZETRbUp<\/a><\/p>\n
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