A Teaching Moment? Cam Skattebo Shows Class After Horrific Injury
When we watch the rough and violent sport of NFL football, we do not often find ourselves contemplating a teaching moment. We may simply think to ourselves, “thank goodness my body is not getting crushed like a car accident for three hours.”
But in the past few days, Giants running back Cam Skattebo showed us the brutality of the game and, in turn, taught us the best way to handle adversity.
Skattebo’s Ankle Injury Ends His 2025 Season
As a reminder, Skattebo suffered a devastating ankle injury during Sunday’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles. The injury occurred in the second quarter when Skattebo’s right ankle became trapped underneath an Eagles defender while attempting to make a catch.
Skattebo sustained a dislocated ankle, fibula fracture, and deltoid ligament rupture. According to Dr. Tom Christ, a doctor of physical therapy who analyzed the injury, both the tibia and fibula snapped. The most concerning aspect was that it became an open fracture, meaning the skin was compromised and the bone may have protruded through.
The situation demanded immediate action to avoid a scenario similar to former NFL quarterback Alex Smith, whose compound fracture in 2018 led to sepsis and nearly cost him his life. Skattebo underwent successful emergency surgery Sunday night at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center in Philadelphia, just hours after the injury.
This is gross to write. This is gross to think about. How do we handle such awful news? Well, let’s start with things NOT to do.
Teaching Moment No. 1: Do Not Jump To Conclusions
For online writers, speed is essential. So is accuracy. The following was written:
Although it is way too early for this, after watching the brutality of the injury, many will wonder how he (Skattebo) can return to the NFL and be effective.
Well, that was quickly squashed. The expectation is that Skattebo will be banging his head against the locker room wall, in full pads, by the start of next season, and likely participate in off season drills.
Teaching Moment No. 2: Leave Commentary Out of the Injury Story
The following was written:
The play was not a late hit. The play was not a cheap shot. The play was rather non-descript, as Skattebo received a short pass (that was dropped) from Jaxson Dart and was tackled. In fact, the normal Skattebo fight for extra yardage was not even a factor in this play.
How can 1,000 people see the same thing, and have 500 different opinions? To Eagle fans, it was a clean tackle by Zack Baun. Giants fans roared in disbelief, citing the illegal “hip-drop” tackle. Of course the NFL can have the final word on this. As of this writing, Baun was not fined for any infraction.
Teaching Moment No.3: Do Not Show The Gruesome Injury In Plain Sight
There were posts on X (formerly Twitter) with a picture that showed the exact extent of the Skattebo injury. A picture. Therefore, you search Skattebo…. You scroll down, and …hold your mouth, there is the exact view of the injury.
Please do not do this.
Yes, there are some who want to see this. For those people there is no judgement. But for those people, make them watch a video, or something that does not make it in plain sight when scrolling down the page.
Please.
Teaching Moment No.4: Do Not Make Stuff Up
Skattebo gained fame last year at Arizona State. Every head-butt and crazy Skattebo story is passed from Goodyear to Scottsdale bars on a daily basis. Arizona truly loves this guy.
Unfortunately, with all the posts about him comes the fiction. The tall tales. In Arizona, there are posts that insert sentences into Skattebo’s real posts to suggest he calls out Baun. There is no reputable evidence that this callout exists. This is AI at its worst…and leads to the most important part of this story…
Teaching Moment No.5: Be Like Skattebo
Dang, here is a kid with everything going his way. He is literally taking a piece of the Big Apple on his way to being a star. And boom, a devastating season-ending injury. While the rest of us are jumping to conclusions, sniping at one another over the legality of the tackle, making stuff up, and showing stuff that cannot be unseen, we have the 23-year-old kid essentially telling us all to sit down and shut up. Relax.
Skattebo has thanked his surgeons, the hospital staff, stadium staff for buying him cheesestakes, and the city of Philadelphia. He wrote on his verified X account:
“Thank you everyone for the support!! Surgery went well. I just want to thank the city of Philly for taking the best care of me. Every moment I spent in the hospital with family and friends I felt loved and supported in every way. …Thank you to the doctors, surgeons, and staff that did their best work on me. This is just the beginning of my journey and I can’t wait to show you guys all about it!!! God has a plan for me, stick the course and it will all work itself out. BRB “
We all know there are plans handed to us that we don’t like. It is how we react to them. Apparently this kid from Sacramento knows how to react to the worst of them. Maybe we can learn a thing or two, or five, from him.
