New York Giants running back Cam Skattebo was flagged 15 yards for unnecessary roughness during Sunday’s win over the Houston Texans after lowering his shoulder into safety M.J. Stewart, a hit that knocked Stewart to the turf. Skattebo and his head coach, John Harbaugh, both say the call was wrong.
Skattebo ran for more than 120 yards and a touchdown in the game, and he didn’t hold back afterward when asked about the flag.
“I will say, man, the NFL loves to post me when I do stuff like that, but then also wants to take stuff from me,” Skattebo said. “So, I mean, I’m going to run the ball like I want to run the ball, and if I’m going to continue to get flagged or it or fined for it, man, I guess I’m going to play for free.”
Harbaugh was seen holding Skattebo back and arguing with the official in the moment after the hit. Asked Monday what he told the referee, Harbaugh didn’t soften his answer.
“Did you see me after the play expressing my opinion? That’s how I felt about it,” Harbaugh said.
Harbaugh said he understands why officials are trying to eliminate helmet-to-helmet contact, and he acknowledged the hit could look like a crown-of-the-helmet violation on replay. But he argued the league is ignoring basic physics.
“I also understand human physiology and anatomy and the way the body works,” Harbaugh said. “Skat runs low. You have to run low. You have to run low to protect the football. You have to run low to protect your body. You can’t run in there and give tacklers your chest. When you run low, your head’s down there, too. You can’t move your head off your shoulders. It’s a physical impossibility.”
Harbaugh said he doesn’t believe Skattebo was “trying to use his helmet as a weapon, as a battering ram.” The running back’s physical style is central to his identity on the field — he even appeared in commercials during Sunday’s broadcast running through walls and other objects.
For Harbaugh, the hit on Stewart wasn’t dirty football. It was the sport working as intended.
“That’s the way you’re supposed to run,” Harbaugh said. “That’s how you protect yourself and the football.”
The Giants got the win Sunday, with Skattebo’s hard-nosed running a big reason why. Harbaugh’s challenge to the league now is simple: if that’s not how a running back should play through traffic, what is?
