Cam Skattebo woke up to find himself on another of Newsday’s back pages, but this time it had nothing to do with football.
The Giants running back had baseline seats at Wednesday night’s Knicks opener against the Cavaliers at Madison Square Garden, and when OG Anunoby came down the court for a reverse dunk in the fourth quarter, Skattebo stood up from his seat and flexed.
“I knew once I flexed and sat back down that somebody probably got a picture of that,” Skattebo said on Thursday in the Giants’ locker room.
He was right. Photographer Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke snapped the shot, and soon after, it landed in the paper.
“That was pretty funny,” Skattebo said of his cameo in the image and its placement in the newspaper. “Awesome.”
Newsday’s back page for the late edition on Oct. 23, 2025.
Skattebo knew he’d made it to the big time before the Newsday coverage, though. And he knew it before he popped up on the video board during celebrity introductions to one of the loudest ovations of the night.
During the game, he left his seat briefly and went to the restroom. While at the urinal, he turned to his left and saw comedian Chris Rock. “I was shell-shocked,” Skattebo said. “That was kind of crazy.”
Skattebo and Rock wound up having a short conversation . . . once they left the area and were making their way back to their seats, of course.
Skattebo said he also was impressed by meeting Spike Lee and Carmelo Anthony. “That’s his building,” Skattebo said of the Hall of Famer.
Skattebo grew up in Northern California and rooted casually for the Kings in the NBA, mostly because he lived about 20 minutes away from their arena. Once he was drafted by the Giants, though, he had the opportunity to attend a Knicks playoff game last spring. That changed his allegiance quickly.
“Shoot, I’m going to be here for at least four years and this [Knicks] team is going to be really good,” he said. “Last [season] when I went to the game, I was like, ‘Holy crap, this place is electric. I want to be a part of this.’ Being there opening night, it was electric too. It was stuff I like to be a part of: energized and happy places.”
MetLife Stadium hasn’t been either of those things for quite a while, but with Skattebo and fellow rookie Jaxson Dart, the Giants have won two straight home games. Skattebo said his aim is to bring the Garden vibes across the river to MetLife.
“Your team is going to play harder if your fans are more involved,” he said. “Lighting up the city and getting activated and making sure everyone is at the game every Sunday . . . We need the fans and the support system. The Knicks’ atmosphere was crazy. We need that atmosphere in our football stadium.”
The next Giants home game is Nov. 2 against the 49ers. Until then, the best place in the area to watch the running back may be the Garden.
Said Skattebo: “One-and-oh with Skatt in the house!”
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday’s Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.