The NFL has declared that CTE is real. Skattebno says it isn’t.
The Giants have employed many meatheads in their proud 102 seasons of existence, players like Lawrence Taylor, Tiki Barber, Jeremy Shockey, Jason Pierre-Paul, Odell Beckham Jr., Eli Apple, Evan Neal, Kayvon Thibodeaux, Abdul Carter, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, Malik Nabers, Darius Slayton, Michael Strahan, Plaxico Burress, and Antonio Pierce come to mind.
We can now enter Giants running back Cam Skattebo to this list. When asked by host Frank Dalena on the Bring the Juice podcast, he said Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) is not a real thing, and asthma is fake
I can’t help but wonder if the rookie took way too many hits to the head this past season for him to make this foolish comment. Not only was it foolish, but it was ignorant and dangerous, especially when he mentioned CTE as an excuse. CTE is no laughing matter, considering how so many football players and others have died because of CTE. The effects can cause football players’ behavior to go out of control, including domestic violence and murder.
Courtesy StopCTE.org
Research on brain injuries proved CTE is not fake, despite what Skattebo wants to say.
CTE comes from concussions. I can speak to that personally because I have suffered concussions while working at FedEx. I’ve gotten hit in the head and feel woozy when throwing packages every day, and then dealing with loud noise that emanates from the warehouse.
It’s not a fun feeling when I don’t recognize someone, forget names, or know where I am.
If Skattebo wants to show his machismo by playing through CTE and expressing pride in it, that’s his choice. Other football players are wired that way. But that’s different from calling CTE a non-thing. He’s wrong about that, including the consequences associated with insinuating that young football players and his own peers are cowards by worrying about CTE and concussions.
I covered high school football in Northern New Jersey in an earlier chapter of my life, and I dealt with coaches who were ignorant jerks. They bullied their players to the point of tears by challenging their manhood. It wasn’t okay when we were in a society where bullying was okay, and it is not okay now. If anything, Skattebo emboldens high school football coaches to have players play through injuries, and that is dangerous.
Remarkably, the Giants did not condemn him for what he said. That’s a terrible look because the NFL has made it clear that CTE is “a thing.” And what about Giants’ fans? They have a history of being stupid and ignorant, and outside of Giants beat writer Pat Leonard from the Daily News, most of the media serve nothing more than as the Giants’ PR agents.
Here’s the bottom line: The Giants should know better, and so should Skattebo.
Perhaps when Skattebo grows up and starts feeling the effects of the concussion, he’ll realize what he said on a podcast was wrong.
