Giants rookie Cam Skattebo used to 'run into telephone poles' as bizarre training methods are revealed

NFL tacklers struggling to contain New York Giants rookie Cam Skattebo shouldn't be too upset. Truthfully, the 5-foot-10 wrecking ball is accustomed to much bigger obstacles.

'He would put his brother's shoulder pads on and he would run into telephone poles,' his mother Becky said in a newly resurfaced ESPN interview from his college days at Arizona State. 'Once he got onto the field, it was no surprise the punishment he inflicted on his own body and everybody else.'

Skattebo's brother, Leonard, played fullback for Bowling Green's football team in 2016 and 2017.

Since then, the younger Skattebo has blazed a path from Sacramento State to ASU and into the New York Giants' starting lineup, which probably didn't come as much of a surprise to the 23-year-old Californian.

'I'm the best running back in the country,' Skattebo said in the ASU video. 'I used to put my brother's helmet on all the time and we used to play football in the living room together.'

His mother then added: 'Cameron's always been able to figure out how to get up, over or through things.'

Skattebo was productive in four of his first five NFL games, but enjoyed his breakout performance on Thursday night by scoring three touchdowns in an upset of the Super Bowl-champion Philadelphia Eagles.

He then punctuated the 98-yard effort by ripping off his shirt during a post-game interview with Amazon – a feat nearly as impressive as Skattebo's back-flipping touchdown celebrations.

Skattebo soaked up the moment alongside fellow rookie Jaxson Dart, a first-round pick who is now 2-1 as the Giants' starting quarterback.

'[Dart] does a great job,' Skattebo later told reporters back in the locker room. 'He's a quarterback, a very competitive quarterback that knows what to do with the ball at the right times, and he can use his legs.

'He does a great job just being the general on the field, and props to him and props to the guys around him that help him be who he is.'

Dart was a solid, if unspectacular, 17 of 25 for 195 passing yards and a touchdown on Thursday. Without top receiver Malik Nabers, who is out for the season with knee injury, the Giants still narrowly out-gained and out-possessed the Eagles offense.

Meanwhile, Philadelphia committed a pair of turnovers, while New York avoided any.

Now the 2-4 Giants head to Denver to face the 4-2 Broncos on Sunday. Denver is riding a three-game winning streak after beating the Jets in London last week.