March 29, 2019 ▸ People

Episode 377: Tony Hawk: Champion or Poser?

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On this episode of the world famous Sofa King Podcast, we bust an Alley-oop all over this mother and look at the life of the skating legend, Tony Hawk. Though many skating purists (and snobs) talk smack about Hawk, in his 17-year professional career, he won more than 70 contests, including multiple gold medals at the X Games. He parlayed twelve consecutive years of being the National Skateboard Association world champion into an massive skate line, a series of amazingly popular video games, and a fortune of $140 Million! But where did this legend start?

Well, he started in his back alley, like all good skaters do. At the age of nine, Tony Hawk was given an old, beat up skate board from his brother. Three years later, he landed a sponsorship, and another two years after that, he became a professional skateboarder. He bought his own house with his royalty monies by the age of 17 and made people rethink what it meant to be a professional skater.

Tony Hawk was smaller than a lot of skaters, so instead of busting power moves, he had to rely on technical skills with the board. It worked well, and many people rightly thought the young Hawk was a prodigy. However, with a huge slump in skate sales and skate culture in the early 1990s, he saw his wealth decline. Eventually, his wife had to take a job as a manicurist, just to afford gas for him to drive to new gigs (and eat his $5 a day taco bell budget). He ultimately sold his house to keep going and opened up his own skate company called Birdhouse Projects. His tenacity paid off. Right when most skaters were hanging it up to get day jobs, the winds of skating changed when the X-Games launched.

This new televised sport made skating become mainstream more than ever, and Tony Hawk started killing it and winning gold. A few years later, the universe was on Tony’s side. He won more gold at the X-Games, launched his video game (Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater), and became the first person to land the otherwise impossible trick known as the 900 (a trick that supposedly only 11 people on earth have landed to this day). From there, he became a household name and now spends his time and money trying to spread skate culture through his foundation. So, what do the guys think of Tony Hawk? Is he the best that ever was or a sell out and a poser? Listen, laugh, learn.

Tony Hawk at 50: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Zx7fFFfPis

First Ever 900: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YYTNkAdDD8