Cam Skattebo nearly sparked the offseason call Joe Schoen never wanted

GMEN HQ · Jul 21, 2026 17:30 · 3 min read

Cam Skattebo nearly sparked the offseason call Joe Schoen never wanted — New York Giants running back Cam Skattebo | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

After a recent incident, Cam Skattebo almost forced the phone call New York Giants GM Joe Schoen never wanted.

By now, every New York Giants fan has to have seen the Cam Skattebo video that went viral the moment it hit socials over the weekend.

Appearing at Fanatics Fest, Skattebo attempted to pull off one of his signature back flips on stage and, upon landing, lost his footing and gave every Giants fan a heart attack in the process.

Admit it. When you saw the video, everything in you wanted to scream, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

Just imagine what would have happened had Skattebo actually done any damage.

Cam Skattebo almost threw the Giants' offseason (and future plans) for a loop with his failed back flip

After the incident -- yeah, that's what we'll call it -- had reached the masses, of course it was a topic within NFL insider circles. NFL Network's Ian Rapoport shed some light on the gravity of what could have been with Skattebo's failed back flip:

"This is really the nightmare scenario in so, so many ways ... There is no reason to call a general manager during the summer, ever. If there's something cool happening, just text. Any phone call, you know it's bad ... If Joe Schoen is getting a call about Cam Skattebo hurting himself, doing a back flip at some Fanatics event, that is all bad."

Rapoport had just explained that, earlier in the summer, he spent some time with one particular NFL general manager and during their time together, that GM received a phone call. Rapoport's point goes to show that, during the summer months, you do not call a general manager unless there's something seriously wrong.

Had Skattebo hurt himself in any way, Schoen would have gotten that dreaded phone call.

Now, do we think Schoen got a phone call in this instance? Probably not. I would assume he got plenty of text messages, though.

We have already heard plenty about the playing style of Skattebo -- and Jaxson Dart, for that matter. The two of them have a certain reckless abandonment for the game and, while it can be entertaining to watch at times, it isn't exactly sustainable on a long-term basis.

Skattebo nearly cost himself even more time on the sideline with this ridiculous decision. The Giants were just one slight movement away from potentially leaning on Tyrone Tracy for the majority of 2026. And then, what do they do in 2027? Would they just opt to move on from Skattebo because they can't trust him?

We can play the "what if?" game all day long but, quite frankly, Skattebo really did cause the future to flash before Giants fans' eyes.

This only furthers the notion that Skattebo and Dart have the spotlight on them in a way that isn't always positive. Play style and decision making have to be better in 2026, and it starts with not doing things like Skattebo decided to do over the weekend.

If the Giants are going to take another step forward in 2026, they need their most outgoing and vocal leaders to start leading with their actions.

It's okay to have fun. It's not okay to be reckless.