Tony Hawk
Tony Hawk
Anthony Frank "Tony" Hawk, nicknamed "The Birdman", is an American professional skateboarder, actor, and owner of skateboard company Birdhouse. Hawk is well known for completing the first documented 900 and for his licensed video game titles, published by Activision. He is widely considered to be one of the most successful and influential pioneers of modern vertical skateboarding...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionSkateboarder
Date of Birth12 May 1968
CityCarlsbad, CA
CountryUnited States of America
When you break your pelvis, you can't do a whole lot. It took me about six weeks to be able to get out of bed. Anything you do that shakes your body is painful all over, so you can't cough, you can't sneeze, and going to the bathroom is impossible.
When people start talking about venture capital and finances and how to create this and do that, a lot of it, I swear, it's like sitting in an escrow meeting when all you want to do is buy a house, and you're signing 50 pieces of paper, but you have no idea what they're talking about.
When I landed the first 900 at the XGames, it was just - it was a personal achievement. It was something that I have strived for for years and years and years, and in a lot of ways had given up on it. But I just didn't think of the resonance that would have.
There's a stigma to skating. People think of it as a kid's sport. People kept telling me I couldn't possibly make a living out of it. Then they said I couldn't keep it up in my 30s. And here I am in my 40s, and I'm still improving my skills.
Skating was popular, but it wasn't mainstream. It had this underground following, and you could go on tours, win decent prize money, and make royalties from signature products - that's how I came to buy a house when I was a senior in high school.
He is a sports superstar with his feet firmly planted in reality.
You might not make it to the top, but if you are doing what you love, there is much more happiness there than being rich or famous.
My definition of success is doing what you love. I feel many people do things because they feel they have to, and are hesitant to risk following their passion. And obviously, yeah, it's hard right now. But maybe there's a chance that if you get laid off, maybe that's your saving grace, your chance to restart.
For those that say I endanger my child: it's more likely that you will fall while walking on the sidewalk than I will while skating with my daughter.
When your daughter asks you to be a fairy for her 5th birthday party... you better be a damned fairy.
Most of my friends are skaters or were skaters at one time, so they obviously relate.
I love snowboarding, but I would never want to do it competitively or at a professional level. Snowboarding is a spawn of skating, and skating is my passion.
If you look at the success of snowboarding in the Winter Games and how that's brought a more youthful edge to the Olympics in general, they don't have that with the Summer Games. They don't have anything that's drawing in a younger viewership. To be honest, I think they need skateboarding more than we need them. Skateboarding's popularity is solidified for the most part in a lot of countries.
I was a lot more cultured than the other kids in my high school. Because I traveled, I understood different cultures and had a more worldly view. Most of the people I went to high school with had never been outside of California.