Cam Skattebo isn’t exactly built like a player who eases through anything.
The Giants running back plays with the kind of edge that shows up on Sundays and, apparently, in his off-field choices too. As he heads into his second season in New York while working his way back from a nasty ankle injury, Skattebo found himself in the spotlight for a very different reason this week: a backflip at Fanatics Fest.
The move made the rounds online, and it did not go smoothly. Skattebo was captured on stage attempting the flip and failing to stick the landing, which is the kind of thing that can make everybody wince when a player is already trying to get healthy again.
Skattebo, though, wasn’t interested in letting the moment become a bigger concern. In a follow-up appearance, he addressed the reaction directly and said, “I will not hurt myself before the season."
That may be the message he wanted to send, but the optics were hard to ignore. Even a harmless-looking stunt can turn into a real problem in a hurry, and this one came with enough awkwardness to fuel the worry on its own.
There was also a social media post circulating about John Harbaugh, who reportedly didn’t even like Joe Flacco going on a skateboard when he was coaching the Ravens. Harbaugh is now in charge of the Giants, and this probably wasn’t the sort of thing he’d enjoy seeing from one of his players.
Maybe Skattebo comes out of all of this just fine. But with an ankle injury already in the picture, it’s fair to say this is the kind of risk that didn’t need to be taken.
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