Dan Skuta’s dream of playing in the National Football League included a promise to his mother.
“I told my mom when I get to the NFL I’m going to buy her a Mustang,” he said. “That was our joke growing up. It wasn’t a joke to me. I really thought about that with everything I did.”
That dream and that promise began forming before Skuta had even become an outstanding high school player at Carman-Ainsworth. While others were skeptical, Skuta believed he could really reach the pinnacle of his sport. Athletes who achieve greatness don’t tend to be burdened by the same self-doubt that holds back other people.
Looking back, Skuta isn’t sure where that self-assuredness came from, because it was out of character for him to be so bold.
“I don’t know if I was this cocky kid,” he said. “I was more of a quiet kid, but when it came to football I think I was a cocky kid.”
Skuta’s talent, drive and confidence allowed him to overcome the odds and forge an eight-year NFL career, despite playing college football at the NCAA Division II level and not being selected in the 2009 NFL Draft.
Skuta was convinced that playing at the highest level of Division II for Grand Valley State University would allow him to achieve his NFL dreams. He helped the Lakers win national championships in 2005 and 2006 and was a first-team All-American in 2007 and 2008.
Among his teammates on those back-to-back championship teams were former Carman-Ainsworth teammates Brandon Carr and Todd Carter. Carr also went on to a lengthy NFL career.
“Brandon was an inspiration to me, being that he didn’t get redshirted, so he’s a year ahead of me,” Skuta said. “He came from the same place as me. We went to college together.
“Brandon called me up and we talked about different things going on with recruiting. He said, ‘Hey, I think I’m going to Grand Valley.’ He thought he was going to Central for a long time. I was thinking I’d be a little more highly recruited. We both were, ‘Let’s go. Let’s go tear it up there.’”
Skuta was Grand Valley’s all-time sack leader when he graduated with 34.5, a mark since eclipsed by one-half sack by Matt Judon in 2015. His 282 career tackles rank 15th in school history.
Skuta hoped his college credentials, even in Division II, would attract more attention from NFL teams come draft day in 2009.
His name was never called, but before the day ended he was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Cincinnati Bengals. Skuta’s foot was in the door, but he knew he faced a tough uphill battle.
“I was very realistic,” he said. “If I’m an undrafted free agent, this is going to be tough. I told my family. They were all ready to go; it was getting a little later. They were excited for me, they were pumped for me being in the NFL. They weren’t thinking like I am. I was like, ‘This is tough.’
“I went and ran hills over at Southwestern. I never wanted to be a guy that was just there. I wanted to play, I wanted it all. I didn’t care if I went to Grand Valley; I wanted to be that guy all the time. That was my mentality.”
Skuta feared his NFL career would be one-and-done after his performance in the Bengals’ preseason opener Aug. 14, 2009 in New Orleans.
He was trying to make the transition from a pass-rushing defensive lineman in college to middle linebacker at the highest level of the sport.
It didn’t go well.
“I saw my grandparents after the game and told them, ‘I’m glad you came to that game, because that was probably it. I don’t think this is going to last long,’” he said. “I was bad. I was just straight-up bad. Having those feelings and being more vulnerable than you think and just hustling to keep your job, that will either make or break you.”
Skuta stuck with the Bengals throughout camp because, he suspected, the team needed linebackers to get through preseason practices.
He played in eight games as a rookie and all 16 the next three seasons. He signed with the defending NFC champion San Francisco 49ers in 2013 before cashing in with a five-year, $20.5-million deal with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2015. That deal included $8.1 million guaranteed.
He played two seasons in Jacksonville before injuries began to slow him down. He was released and signed with the Chicago Bears in 2017, but was cut before the start of the season.
“As a kid, you think of the NFL as super heroes out there,” Skuta said. “In a lot of ways, I still have so much respect for the guys that do it. They are, but it’s just so different when it’s you. There’s just so many more things that are part of it and the feelings of ‘Can I do this?’”
At Carman-Ainsworth, Skuta was a first-team All-Big Nine Conference running back and linebacker as a senior in 2003. He had 108 tackles and two interceptions on defense while running 158 times for 1,024 yards and 20 touchdowns on offense.
The Cavaliers made their longest state playoff run to date in 2003, beating Lake Orion and Clarkston before losing 10-0 at Utica Eisenhower in the regional championship game. Carman-Ainsworth lost 28-14 to Davison in the first round of the playoffs Skuta’s junior year.
Many of Skuta’s teammates went on to play college football.
“I kind of fed off those guys in high school,” he said. “The playing for your teammate is the part of football that’s really important to me. We had a really unique group, starting in seventh grade together. We played lightweight football from seventh and eighth grade and through high school together. That lightweight team was the most special team I’ve been part of.
“In eighth grade, we were undefeated and no one had scored on us the entire year. We were playing Beecher in the last game, and I think we were winning 21-0. It felt like we were going to win the game, but they scored on us. Our defense started crying. That just tells you the kind of kids I played with. I just got really lucky with who I got to play with throughout my entire life in football.”
By the way, did Skuta buy that Mustang for his mother once he made the NFL?
“Yeah, I did,” he said.
