Inside Tony Hawk's $1 Billion Empire (Interview)

I'm either going to make it or you're going to pull me out an ambulance there was no other end to that night I didn't care that's what skateboarding is to me the name Tony Hawk meant way more than just me as a person and that was strange Tony Hawk now is a brand it's worth over a billion dollars how much money do you have we like contacted you guys and they're just like no we're good it's cuz my schedule has been no it said on the email like Danny's not to that point yet no I'm just kidding there's 10 minutes left see one of those 900s you want to see me bail okay got knocked out and broke my pelvis dude this could have all gone so South you guys have got to cut me some slack I'm getting this like I'm finally figuring it out what's like the biggest thing you've turned [Music] down I'm shaking I I'll take it as a compliment thank you yeah it's surreal but uh yeah I mean you're a legend obviously I appreciate it yeah it's wild to see you but yeah well thanks for having me yeah man I mean Danny and I were talking about before this like we grew up playing the games and I think you're such a Pioneer Tony like I feel like when you were coming about there's no bu in skateboarding who was like as big as you like you know we talk about LeBron could look at Michael Jordan and Michael could look at Magic but like in your sport I feel like you're the first to Pioneer it how did you get started um I well definitely wasn't the first to Pioneer it I think um there there's a few elements to that I mean I I made a name for myself in the 80s skating and competing and being on the Bones Brigade and then as skating kind of took a downturn in popularity it still was you know was it was it was obviously still very relevant to a a a big not a big but but a a a culture and as it came back around in the 90s I was still kind of on top of my game so people I kind of crossed over generations and I think that that carried a lot of weight or just name recognition and then uh and then my video game got released in 99 and that definitely changed everything for me in terms of in in terms of people knowing my name yeah yeah um but you know there I I stand on the shoulders of giants like the there was a whole revolution of skating before I even got into it totally I mean I I know Danny you were like trying to get in on the like skateboarding scene that was like a big part of your career as well getting started yeah yeah I used to work with like athletes and I always noticed how skaters it just seemed like no one helped them and then I was I was doing like stretching and stuff and then I was like I really wanted to try that so that's why I came out here originally but every time I would do something they would always talk about they'd be like yeah no Tony Hawk has a guy he's been he's had a guy since the 90s or something a guy that's what they said most definitely did not have a guy everyone would say that though everybody and I was like damn yeah it was weird like they would talk about how you had someone good or bad but I don't know well I always thought I was like oh he takes it like really serious you know like with his career and his body like I was like I gu and obviously you know you make more money than I would say only recently is that true that's wild I and I'm not kidding like I went to so many events and like any it was usually like older people I would talk to and they' always talk about how like yeah he's he's been like you know working out and doing stuff like just to like stay healthy they would always say that and I was like man I need to find someone like that to work I didn't actually lift any weights until like in the last few months that's crazy my whole life too um because uh I guess I just never thought I needed it and and I did you know I I kept progressing my skating and and every time I'd go like I I knew how to warm up and I knew how to and then I knew how to sort of make it work in any physical condition and then broke my femur last year and had a rough go of it I I didn't actually my my bone did not heal for eight months and then I finally had to have it reset again um but going through that and then trying to get back to the level of skating that I was that I wanted to I needed help and that's when I leaned into uh strength and training and stretching and physical therapy and I never did any of that before at all so I had a good run like 40 years not doing this yeah and if we could rewind just like to talk about the start of that 40 years because you know Danny and I were researching and looking up did you start making it really big as a teenager like I was reading like as like a 16-year-old you're were starting to make six figures like really starting to make a name for take us through those early days that you're like I mean I'd say really big is a relative term but um but at least like you can make a career out of it like you early days didn't you then yeah there was a there was a window I would say so I I started skating when I was 10 1978 and I when I really started getting into it it took a turn of from popularity and then it kind of went it kind of went underground like there was there were a few skat Parks but there were there were hundreds of skat Parks when I first started and when I really got into it and I started getting good they all closed why uh insurance and and interest level like skating just was a fad and it it kind of fell out of style um but that's I was only 11 or 12 so I didn't really care what was the trend I just love skating um and so when it started to sort of come back into the Limelight I would say it back to the future was like the first big boost in the mid 80s for oh really because of the flying skateboard the hoverboard you feel like Mar McFly actually invents the skate the skateboard the Modern Skate right right right he pulls the the scooter box off yeah and then there was some Modern skating in that and that inspired the generation of kids to start skating like truly he that a lot um oh when he takes it was like the Mattel skateboard and he takes the handle off and it turns into the hoverboard no it's it when he before the hoverboard thing it's okay before the Hardo thing their kids are skating and and they they're skating on skating on makeshift scooters where they have a box a crate on on a skateboard that has metal wheels Marty McFly comes up and he's like give me that he pulls the handle and the crate off of it and he uses it like a skateboard yeah so that was sort of that was one of the beginnings and when that happened I was I was skating really well I was doing well in competition and then all of a sudden I mean there were a few other elements too but all of a sudden skateboarding was kind of back in the back in The Fray and and people were appreciating what we did and and to skateboarding's credit it had gone through a whole revolution of of like aerial moves and M twists and things like that and all that stuff was happening underground now it was front and center and I was riding that wave so let's put it this way when I first turned Pro I was 14 first place for a skate competition was $100 H 75 for second uh 50 for third um my first royalty check was $485 not bad for skateboards with my name on it right and then when I'm when I was 17 and I was about to graduate high school I was making six figures and I owned a house uh before I graduated high school wow that's how quickly it happened wow and then it happened just as quickly on the downt after that what was that like going from making six figures that sucked that was hard yeah like early 90s it was just there was nothing you work with that guy is his name Paul Paul Schmidt Paul Schmidt yeah yeah yeah yeah he's been around since then yeah I met him when I used to do the stretching stuff his his whole operation was crazy where he'd like bring people in and try I was like man that's sick Paul used to he used to host uh vert halfpipe events in the early 80s like in Florida yeah that's what I me in Florida yeah he reminded me of like kind of like what you do with your video game probably with all the you know you put all the balls on yourself yeah how many times have you done that uh I've done that three times oh really yeah what's that like what's that experience like um the first time it was not great because uh because they put me in this skin tight suit they put all these balls on me and they're like all right do your hardest tricks not like we need the foundational Basics it's like 900 900 yeah for real it was like that what year was his toning for context um 99 yeah well our our the game was released in June 99 this was probably like the end of '98 but early 99 um and then those were the early days of map my board shot out so they had like I don't know 30 cameras all around this ramp that I was skating my board shot out hit one camera and because that moved it a little bit it took three hours to reset oh my God yeah and then when I mean this is this is all full disclosure of our video game series but um when they finally got all the data that they were going to put into the game they had already animated a lot of the tricks just from video and the video looked better than the what they got from the map so they didn't use any of the maps that we did damn wow but they but it made for good like promotions of the game yeah you know with me with all the stuff on yeah when I was a kid I thought that was the coolest thing I was like man I would love to do that one day yeah so that's the dirty secret that we didn't even use it damn what a scam anything I feel I'm killing myself out there with pingpong balls all over me was there a moment that you're like uh like when did Tony Hawk become more of a like brand like when did you start thinking about like the initial conversations for the game like starting bird house was it during that bankruptcy or that moment where you're like well I started I started bird house in '92 yeah and that was more because I thought my career as a skater was coming to an end really because you know I was a vert skater skating was dying in terms of popularity or or at least for a career and so I wanted to still be in skating so I started a skate company thinking I would be behind the scenes and I would help to curate a team and and a artistic Direction and and little did I know that a few years later I would still be skating just as much and kind of back in the Limelight and then I just kept I became more of a team writer than a company owner in those years but to answer your question once once our video game was released the name Tony Hawk meant way more than just me as a person and that was strange that's crazy because people would say Tony Hawk as if they're talking about either a game or an entity or a character and it was like I'm I'm right here it's me like what's going on yeah um and then uh but but with that came other opportunity big time I mean I I look at I think it's fascinating like YouTube and and what you've done like Danny starting virginity rocks like starting merch to kind of like last beyond like the YouTube game um you with your video game like bird house like did you approach Activision did they approach you like I mean we grew up playing that game what were the initial conversations of trying to turn like Pro Skater into a real thing I was working with a uh PC Pro PC programmer um and he wanted to do a game for PCs probably or maybe PlayStation and he had a really crude engine of this skater that would like go in and out of pools and and it was like keyboard controlled it was it was something I mean it wasn't wasn't the best but it was at least something and we went and pitched it to a bunch of different Studios and console manufacturers and no one was having it I always wondered that like I always wondered if it could have been someone else like Danny Way's Pro Skater or because I heard like um like George Foreman grills was like could have been Hulk Hogan oh or whatever yeah I can't well and I always wonder like who who lost out on all that money I don't think Activision was I don't know to answer that um but when they called me we had given up on this PC game because the guy was just discouraged and he he needed to have a career so he moved on but because we had um planted that seed at all these places Activision when they were doing a game they said oh we heard Tony Hawk is trying to work on a game we should call him that's pretty much how I know it when I went there as soon as I picked it up I was like this is it this is this is kind of what always hoped a video game could be that has skateboarding um and then I realized with my with my influence and my resources we can make it really legitimate and authentic and so I signed on right away wow sick never soft who was the developer they would um they would this is back in the days CDs like CDs for PlayStations so they would burn me a CD I had a modified PlayStation and they would FedEx it to me and then I'd play it make all my comments and then the next week they would send me an updated one with all my comments um addressed wow it was pretty amazing that I mean the way that it worked just in terms of how how archaic the technology was back then yeah um but we we made it work and then uh and then once we brought on the other skaters they had their own input as to tricks and and other ideas and and it was a group effort but but we had we didn't have High Hopes I I think that's the the thing that people don't realize is when we were doing it it it really was the small project MH and Activision was stoked to do it but they didn't think it was going to go Gang Busters um and never saw it was a new studio and so it was all just kind of like go ahead whatever you guys so we had we had a lot of we had a we had a lot of leeway in terms of what they were allowing us to do like the music yeah um you know and some of the challenges and some you know some stuff was a little edgy for the time and um so we were stoked that they gave us that that freedom and then when the game was nearing release they sent out uh copies to to the Publications and as the reviews started coming in they were like holy [ __ ] we have something here oh [ __ ] we paid Tony too much money no that I'll tell you what happened negotiate this they called me when uh when all that was happening ad it was about to be released and they said hey we were going to we'll offer you a buyout if future Royal royalties like if you want to cash in right now was that the $500,000 buyout so how how did you navigate that like that that was a [ __ ] ton of money like yeah still is are you kid me yeah but compared to the is Tony Hawk now as a brand we were reading up it's worth over a billion dollar is a franch I don't know how that but Dan wants to see a Well Fargo the but uh let's just say if you like a b yeah it was way more M yeah there's a lot of misconception with all that but um I'm not complaining I I live an amazing life and I take I get to you know take care of my family and travel the world so all good you know I'm not I'm not chasing some giant golden carrot yeah um but uh but how do you say you honestly like when when someone says yeah we'll give you half a million dollars like no one's ever said those words in the same room as me you know what I mean like that sounds like someone saying a billion gazillion dollars um but but I had I was actually doing pretty well with other things and X Games were kind of popping and um I was doing I don't know I just like I I felt pretty stable in my fin finances for the first time in a long time and so I just said I'm I'm going to let it ride H and that was that was crazy like it was crazy to think that I'd turn that down yeah um but I could tell that they were already considering a sequel and so it felt felt like a pretty safe bet are you uh are they going to make any more I hope so um they did one and two that did pretty well they did the remaster underground um yeah and then the studio kind of got disbanded so hey I'm I I'm never saying never was there ever a note Tony that you gave the studio they they didn't agree with or something you wanted in the game that we didn't see only in the first game because I wanted to to uh get a loop in there and they said we just don't have the technology to make that work with the gravity and how it works and then PlayStation 2 came out we did thps 2 and there was a loop that was it I was watching that the other day like I think it was you and bamar jera and someone doing it and like there was like doing it with bicycles and [ __ ] too oh yeah yeah I was watching that the other night that shit's crazy I want to try that but I think i' would probably [ __ ] my neck up so um looks pretty hard I can tell you that it's it's the easiest and absolutely most dangerous thing yeah you think it you think it be easier on like a dirt bike I I can't answer that all I kept it kept the throttle on it's just a carve huh and if you can hold your legs in a constant carve and wait for the flat bottom to come around that's all it takes but so many things can go wrong yeah right at the beginning that are tragic you seen people get really [ __ ] up yeah in fact the last time I put it up I was like that's the last time putting it up I'll just watch them cuz I saw I saw I saw some of the I saw some of the world's best most experienced ramp skaters get destroyed and I was like if those guys are getting hurt it's over that makes sense that being said I do have a loop in storage so if you want to make an offer hit me up yeah it would be cool to have that it's a it is a Marvel technology it goes up real quick you should give that we saw that you have your first skateboard in the Smithsonian yeah yeah you should give them the loop too if they have room for it what was that like that's pretty cool that was very cool yeah um that was my brother gave it to me it was a hand me- down yeah it was my first skyboard you it was a hand me- down to you or you gave it to your brother no to me he it was he taught me how to skape that's sick and then uh somehow I mean I've had so many so many rare skateboards some of my first skateboards just get stolen or lost and I don't know how I was able to hang on to that one yeah um but it made it through and then um I got the call and so I had to call my brother to get his permission um so he and I both flew to DC and and donated it that's wow this episode is brought to you by prize pick enjoy fantasy sports visit prize picks a unique daily fantasy app where you pick individual players based on set projections rather than choosing teams you decide if a player will exceed or fall short of their projection if you're knowledgeable about sports give the prize pick app a try it's successful ible in 70% of the United States including California Florida and Texas and Arizona first time users can benefit from 100% deposit bonus by using the code Danny enter the code deposit 100 and they'll match it with an additional 100 by using the code Danny what what when you look back at your impact on the game Tony what do you see as like the biggest uh a legacy you hope to leave with skateboarding as a sport oh that's tough um I mean selfishly I just want people to recognize me as a good skater but uh check on the bigger scale maybe just someone that that advocated for it so that it was I don't know how to explain it so so that it was something that kids could choose to do and were and were supported in doing so I think that you know that if anything that I could have given to the skate world I hope that's part of it yeah is that when I chose to skate as a kid that was the furthest thing from cool no one no one encouraged it there was no support for it in fact you were made fun of I got bullied for skating in school like I I had to hide my skateboard in the bushes at high school wow I was Pro I was a pro skater I went to hide my skateboard in the bushes before class insane and then go find it because I because I learned my lesson if I carried it there's Tony get him it did if carried it through school I would get hassold no way wow cuz I feel like now it's skateboarding is so cool that people will wear skateboarding and like like like Thrasher is a huge Tony walk fashion so but I mean that's that's what it was like and that's what and so now yeah if I have anything to do with the fact that that it's cool to skate that it's it's it's and it's as easily uh available and chosen as any sport yeah um and you know I guess if I had any Legacy it would be it would be providing skate parks what did an average day look like in like of Tony Hawk are you doing more of the thing which is like practicing skateboarding or are you doing more on the business side trying to get the brand the video game like all the stuff you're becoming like an international that's all day by day but I I'd say that uh well I still try to walk the walk I I still skate as much as possible so that's usually what I'm trying to focus on even though I it's it's hard for me to find Windows of time like literally it it's hard to to schedule skating yeah um but other than that well like today we recorded two episodes of our podcast Hawk vs wolf here in La um I went to the doctor to get my last check up on my femur that I broke last year so he said you have graduated that was this exact quote um which means that my bone has finally healed itself and then I went to Supreme uh cuz they have a bowl there and I sked the bowl for about 20 minutes and I came here that was my day today uh yesterday was um uh working out taking my daughter to school working out going to my ramp shooting I'm working on a my last video part ever right now so I went to the ramp skated for like two hours uh got got the goods got the clips and then uh picked my daughter up from school drove her to theater practice which is very far away and uh then came back got her at night that was it that was my day so that's the day at home yeah um if I'm traveling it's all over the place yeah so still skating and and part of the day-to-day as you go I like to think so but it doesn't always work out like today there's no skating well I went to the Supreme but um you know I'm not on the ramp I'm not trying tricks and whatever but but I mean really I went through the rough recovery on my femur and so I'm taking every opportunity right now to go skatee because it it was taken away from me for so long um and I cherish it more than ever what was the how did the femur injury happen skating but like what what specifically uh I was doing a MC twist and I didn't have enough speed for it and that's never been a problem in my younger days M but apparently it's a problem and you're in your 50s and you don't have enough speed for MC twist you to make it anyway so my legs kind of got tangled and then uh I remember feeling it just disconnect as I was slide I was still sliding across the flat bottom and I was like I broke my leg and I remember looking at my friend he's like what and and I grabbed it cuz it was over here and I grabbed it and put it back in place oh my God and he's like oh yeah he broke it what did you you just lay there until ambulance comes or how how did it work that's how it worked I broke my leg at the skate park when I was like a kid and I remember I just laid there and I was like God it [ __ ] hurt so bad I broke my tibia like yeah so it was disgusting I like Fel I remember and I had to just sit there and like just you have to disassociate too so yes I think if I hadn't moved it I would have been more in shocked to see it cuz there the bone was actually sticking out oh really but because I moved it that kind of you know made it not so visually scary yeah um but I remember my friend I found like a comfortable position that I could just sort of lean on and have my my one leg resting on the other to wait for the ambulance and my friend my friend brought me to Advil what the [ __ ] I was like that's all I had so I took when you moved it back was the the bone wasn't sticking out at all uh no once I moved it but but what happened was I I when I finally pulled my shorts up I saw the hole where the bone had come out oh that's [ __ ] that's where the blood was coming out so anyway I let's just say that I didn't wait long enough for the bone to heal and I got right back on my skateboard and I made it shift out of place so it never actually connected so for the first eight months I had two bones who and I was just in denial like I was still skating and I was in pain all the time and I just thought well that's what happens you break your femur you're just always in pain and sucks and you can't lean forward and then I got finally got x-rays and they're like like no this is still broken oh um and so I went and saw a specialist here and uh specialist that that does non-un it's called a non-union fracture and so he put it in place put a new rod in there and he just like don't do anything for two months that's wild wow do you um as you get older is it when you wake up in the morning and just get out of bed do you does it hurt really bad I not not as much as You' think yeah feel it already my neck sucks my neck is super stiff all the time yeah from like hitting and stuff yeah Whiplash you know when you got that KO that hurt for a few honestly for a couple years that those kind of Falls just for decades that's what I and I I obviously like I've watched jackass and Bam and dear deck and everything growing up and I always just try to do like I guess like the pussier version of them and just try to stay healthy and like not get hurt and the biggest thing I do is like try not to hit my head like when I hit my head that that one day skating it's like dude my neck was so tight years crazy that's that's crucial to everything so you got to save your head that's what I try to tell everyone too like because they think I'm like an idiot kind of but I just like think if you don't hit your head as much it's like that's the most important thing absolutely I mean my my my helmet saved my life yeah for sure and so um yeah I would prefer not to get any more concussions but I mean I'm not even talking about concussions I'm talking about like just shooting out on the flat and getting that sort of whiplash thing we call chicken neck yeah you get a chicken neck and then that just happens over and over and over again and after a while I'm like you know if someone calls my name over here I'm like huh what yeah have do you do anything like regularly to try to like help with your neck um I I I do acupuncture and yeah he there is someone that works on it but he's kind of told me like this is the best it's not this is like we can maintain it here but I don't think it's going to get better yeah do you think acupuncture helps um I think it helps overall just in terms of resetting in in Riley I remember back in the day he was skating with Baker is he still skating now that's cool I have six kids total uh and they all skate who is your first Riley Riley yeah he's the oldest he's 30 what was that like when uh getting him into skateboarding when he first started um I I didn't really get him he was just surrounded by it yeah and honestly it was more like I I couldn't afford child care so much much and so if I was going on tour he just came yeah um and so he just picked it up because it was just like everywhere um he loves it I mean don't get me wrong it's not like he was you know he was forced into it at all but um but he loves it and and I think around age 10 or 11 is when I recognized that oh he's really got the he's got the skills and he's got the drive cuz it's one thing to have the skills but not the motivation and he was always trying to get better and learn new techniques and then at some point we were on tour I'll never forget um let's see that was probably like 90 sixish wait sorry my ears are off so he's about 10 years old I took him on this UK tour that we did for audio shoes and uh I remember the team manager for audio who was a pro skater himself he was watching us all skate and he's like that's it Riley's better than me like it's it finally has happened and then I was watching him I was like yeah he is like right in the pocket with everyone and he's the little kid yeah um and then at some point he started asking me how to do tricks that I didn't know how to do that's funny you know what I mean I was like he's like Dad how do you do a kickflip front side tail slide I was like I'm honored you asked me that but I don't know it see it seems like it runs in the family cuz when you started getting big in skateboarding Tony your dad also got more involved right and he was very instrumental in making the X Games what it is today yeah well not the X Games he he passed away but um he was he was just really supportive of his kids yeah so like my older brother was a surfer he would drive him you know at at Sunrise to go surf and my one of my sisters is a is a musician he would like he would carry all the band gear and help set up and so when I was born and he saw that I love skating he saw that there was no organization yeah and there were no events there was and there was this group of kids that were super passionate about it and so he uh helped to organize events back then um the national skateboard Association um which kind of set the standard for competition so in a way yeah he influenced X Games but um he actually he uh he passed away in '95 he got to see the first X Games W on TV and for my dad who was a massive sports fan to see skateboarding on ESPN was was well that was the biggest thing ever like for in his eyes he skateboarding's finally made it it's on ESPN I mean he would flip out if he knew it was in the Olympics but yeah do you do you wish in a way um the Olympics was like back then so you could have competed in that no I don't have those that's good regrets I asked Paul Rodriguez that the other day he was like no not really I was like I feel like I would have been like damn that would have been cool yeah I I guess because skateboarding was so Renegade yeah and it was sort of the anti to Olympics when I was kid true that it wasn't we weren't we weren't down you know what I mean we W like now I understand and how if you a kid starting to skate now that that's an option to represent your country and that's huge but but in our day it was like nah we don't care about the mainstream Sports and when X gam started hitting that was the Olympics yeah as far as concern like that was that was the biggest venue that was the biggest audience um and then there were also cor skate events that a lot obviously but um yeah I don't I don't really have any sort of wistful regret in that sense um I love seeing it now I love how I love how it's received you know what I mean skateboarding is still Renegade and irreverent and yes they have to conform to certain rules to be on the Olympics but at the same time I feel like that attitude still shines through yeah 100% yeah it's like you're talking about K it's like you know Kieran ran into the the the uh cameraman yeah at the Olympics when has that ever happened yeah and just got up and continued his run cuz it's skateboarding you know what I mean what was that process like getting because you were also instrumental getting skateboarding to the Olympics what was that like how do you get a sport to the Olympics is already part of that well that that was uh a lot of meetings and it was more just trying to convince this sort of arcade uh Sports organization that look what what skateboarding is is just as much of a sport that you define as a sport as anything else that you're presenting out there you don't have a cool factor in summer like you got the cool factor in the Winter Olympics yeah and so there were all these rules that you had to you had to follow there all there's so much protocol that in terms of what it takes to be recognized you have to have a a governing body a national or international governing body you have to have enough countries that have National governing organizations there's a whole thing like it's really complicated so the skateboard Community got proactive in in getting all you know checking all those boxes and then when it came around to Tokyo they said oh Tokyo Japan can add one event themselves um without having to remove an event and they chose skateboarding wow um so that's when it all happened after that they were they were trying to get me to go to all these meetings and be sort of for the most part a poster boy for and that's when I was like you guys I did like I did my job you know what I mean like I I I always thought skateboarding could be an Olympic sport I thought it would be a great thing in terms of international recognition and growth for skateboarding and it's there my job is done like I don't want to be part of the machine anymore cuz it's complicated and it's it's messy um so I kind of quietly removed myself from all that and now I just watched like a fan yeah I mean it's so cool you could like dip your toe into so many different areas like the Olympics uh you know the video game like your own brand like it's just and then remove yourself and do something else more impact yeah I mean I just I do what I can to to promote uh skateboarding in general or to be I don't know you know I guess some people have appointed me as some sort of ambassador to skating I'm happy to represent skateboarding but if you're looking at me as an individual I don't represent skateboarding I'm a 55 year old vert dude you know what I mean virgin I thought you're like a 55y old virgin I was like what I I think a lot of people just I have six kids that taking care of I think so many people just like are in to you through like they learn I'm happy to be the Gateway like that's what I mean I'm happy to advocate for all styles of skating I appreciate the skating is still Renegade and that people hop fences to go skate schoolyards and stuff like that you know I mean that that all is part of genuine skateboarding and core skateboarding so I'm not trying to promote it as some sort of uh safe packaging right that's like what it's now the Olympics and now it's you know there is support and there is training facilities like yeah sure all that exists but also it gets dirty over here too yeah and I love all of it we saw I was doing a bunch of research and we saw that I don't know what to believe on the internet you know because so much is fake but that you you use the name Tony Hawk as a stage name and that your real name is Mike is that is there any truth to that there is not but uh but that is a running joke in our family I bet my brother Mike yeah yeah my brother's name is Steve and unfortunately people have actually asked him his name was Mike really yeah yeah that's great Tony I was I was reading up like you have so many like things associated with your brand like you have the um you know you have like the the hawk clothing Hawk eyewear like you have the signature toy series I'm wondering what is there like anything that people have approached you with to put your name on that has like really caught your eye or you didn't think would work but ultimately did um and how do you think about well I wouldn't I wouldn't sign on to anything unless believed that it would work you know what I mean I wouldn't just throw my name on like I don't know why not um so I don't know if that's a good answer for you or how do you test it out because I mean that's there's so many things that had the Tony Hawk branding on it like how do you think about like you know cuz your brand has endured so many years like how did you think to your name to versus not uh if if I feel like it connects to skateboarding or it's something that I genuinely believe in that's that's pretty much it and and it's a it's it's a gut instinct you know it's more like does this fit or would I really be using this I'll give you an example um uh I I did a thing for for Cal for supplements and they approached me and said uh you know we're we're doing a campaign for some of these supplements I'm you know I'm 55 so uh and I take their CoQ10 supplement I really do and they're turmeric gummies like I use them and I and I sent them a photo of me with the bottles like I'm all right ahead of you like I buy these yeah and so I got their campaign and it's legit yeah you I mean that's just that's one example but but it's all real what's like the biggest um thing you've turned down yeah uh geez that's tricky I don't want to get into it but you know let's say let's say that there have been countries that wanted me as sort of be on their tourism program and down some oil money so like 100 million you think wait you hearon what's the um I seen somewhere it was like when you're out in public and people you know recognize you but don't recognize you but they know the name yeah I mean now it it gets repetive because I shared a lot of those stories online and now people play into the joke so so they do know usually now it it goes both ways and I can tell when it's they're joking or when it's serious I see uh like I my my wife and I went somewhere the other day we pulled up and there was a woman sitting on a bench right pulled up and as soon as I got out of the car she's like anyone ever tell you you look like Tony Hawk and I could just tell she's joking and I was like yep but you're the first today that's funny um but it's more like I think what happened was somewhere down the line I got old obviously and people they they stuck me in this sort of bubble of the 9s or the early 2000s when they know my face or my name or my video game and didn't imagine that I could have gotten older in the last 20 years yeah um and so they see me and they're like yeah that's that face looks like him but there's no way or or my my legal name is Anthony not Mike thank you and I've never gone by Anthony but when they see my ID especially at the airport they're like Anthony Hawk oh like that Tony Hawk guy I'm like yep and that's how it started actually I was at the airport and the woman checked my ID and she's like Anthony Hawk like is like like Tony Hawk I said exactly she's like I wonder what he's up to these days I love that guy no she said I wonder what he's up to these days and I go un atically I said this yeah and she's like didn't make the connection I have people come up to me sometimes they're like you has anyone ever said you look like that Danny Dunkey guy I'm like I'm like yeah I think it's the hair that's what I say the in the beginning it was like Shawn White because my hair used to be longer they'd always say I look like Shawn White and stuff I was like it drives my daughter crazy because people will say does anyone ever tell you like T I said yes and they're like oh okay and then she's like why do you tell them yeah right they didn't ask me probably a repetitive thing I think sometimes well they never actually think it could be me so they don't ask that's funny and and I feel pretentious just like well actually I know that's why I that's me yeah when you were like coming up and everything was there people you were fans of that then you eventually got to meet you know what I mean like movie stars or whatever athletes what was that like like like who was like the people like the highest up for you back then oh man that's tricky uh like I guess when you're like holy [ __ ] like like when I met bam Mar Jer I was like I don't really like you know get like that but like when I met B bam Mar Jer I was like what the [ __ ] dude like it was just weird as hell to look at him you know yeah um I've definitely had that more like musicians that I that I really enjoyed and and that sort of defined eras in my life and I was able to meet them and hang out with them because it's pretty cool because I would assume they're probably like oh [ __ ] Tony Hawk at the same time in a way right sometimes yeah I mean they're usually they're usually pretty cordial and friendly and and also I don't like to pull the celebrity card that much but if it's like a concert or something I'm definitely yeah honing in like hey get backstage past once I get that card I'm doing it all the time what's that once I get that card I'm going to do that all the time one day man I I think it'll work for you in a lot of situations that maybe you you like if there's a band that you want to see or something I'm sure they know of you that you could probably do it I feel like we get zero support until I started playing pickle ball that's when I started like meeting people so Random yeah I feel like my YouTube's very like um like underground in a way like where I feel like the clothing though is like more mainstream than me which but doesn't have my name on it which is good but yeah me as a person I feel like it's very like just like you know we we like contacted you guys you know like your team and they're just like no we're good and then I was like I had I had to hit up a limb you know and I was like yo is there any way you could uh only the only reason they said that is because my schedule in the last two months has been no it said on the email like Danny's not to that point yet no just kidding imagine not from my not from my office that didn't happen I'll take things that didn't happen for 100 no that did not happen no they just don't they don't want to they don't want to overwhelm me with like even today was just like boom boom boom boom boom you know like that um but I'm glad that you know you you went through a side door yeah Lim right here and and that that we made made it happen so um it's cool and and Lim is my Tik Tock uh Whisperer so Tony it's been two decades of like you mentioned like staying relevant how do you think about social media today we were watching this video of a kid who wanted to ship you a board oh yeah the FedEx guy just put out a Tik Tok and then within a day you responded like how do you find those moments and how do you think about oh well in a moment like that I'm just getting tagged endlessly and and people are sending me that from all all different sources so that one was pretty easy to find um I just started doing it because I enjoyed it I mean I was on Twitter a long time ago like right I don't know early days of it and I started using it just for fun and hiding skateboards and and doing just kind of more interactive stuff and then when Instagram Instagram came along I was able to use that for the same sort of stuff and and so all along I've just been doing it for fun and then at some point it became there was opportunity with it um so I embrac that but I always still try to keep it so it's just it's just enjoyable for people and I think that was probably my best um approach because a lot of people immediately get on it and they want to be influencers they want to make money from it and it's just like well if you're not producing something that's enjoyable there's no point yeah um and it also became an outlet for like old school stuff which has really been fun you know suddenly I'll I'll someone will tag me in something or someone be like hey man I got a video of you guys skating in 885 at this thing and it's like send it over yeah that's wild um and then put it out and it's just like it gets a new life yeah um and I've done a bunch of that stuff and that that always kind of blows up is there a clip that you watch of your younger self that you can't believe or you give yourself different advice if you're in that moment to handle it no because it all brought me here you know I I definitely there's stuff that can make you cringe obviously from those I live through the 80s so I mean just outfit choices for one um and and yeah you know my style like I I went through uh some I I went through some transitional phases of of my style in terms of like it was too I don't know how to explain it like I was all about tricks yeah yeah and then at some point I tried to really focus in on giving them more style and so when I look back there's certain eras of my skating that I look more robotic um but it me here so it's more like yeah what would I say I would say like don't don't be so wildly focused on tricks cuz you you're losing your sense of flow did you tell me I was reading up you invented a bunch of Tricks it looks like a the Madonna the the kickflip mctwist like are like how do you did you invent those tricks and how did you go about like inventing a trick in a sport that's just I was just combining stuff so those are the early days though I mean like those tricks like the Madonna was was invented 85 and it was more that we were experimenting on doing one footed tricks taking your foot off in the in the middle of the air and then I was doing tricks where I would land on the tail and then I just was like take my foot off and then land on the tail and at the time no one had done it and I was talking to my friend and I said how come like I'm I'm trying to learn all these tricks I'm trying to be creative but no one wants to do any of these tricks that I'm making up and they're not all impossibly hard and he said well you just got to name it something trendy and so it's 1985 the trendiest thing was Madonna hilarious you know it's like say Taylor Swift now yeah yeah yeah and so I just said okay that's the Madonna and then here we are talking about 40 years later so I guess it worked wow that's funny it's funny because I would never know that yeah like I know that like obviously in the game you know and stuff like that like the tricks but it's wild I I was in the same room as Madonna a few months ago yeah did she ever yeah what did she say I didn't get a chance to to talk to her cuz she was surrounded by bodyguards and all these people were trying to get photos I just wanted to swoop in and be like hey name a trick out you yeah everyone needs to tagger every tag then she'll see it everyone go tagger yeah right what the one thing I loved as a kid too this is super random but uh that that bit and Jackass the sweaty fat [ __ ] when you guys have those man I almost got destroyed yeah what was it like skating and like like it was hard what were you guys like we were truly sweaty yeah what what you have on like we had bubble wrap oh that's what it was bubble W and then and then they taped the bubble wrap to us and then at some point I was so stiff that I said you guys have got to cut me some slack like you got to either take some off or cut some uh you know cut some slices in so I can move my limbs because this is dangerous like I can't even bend my legs that's wild and so they they took out a little bit so I could function but it was hard I remember I would rewatch that all the time but then there's something too where it's like I don't know someone falls in the board comes shooting oh that wasam yeah bam who is that your board I think it was his because we did a trick there's like a is it like Coke cans or popcorn like what was that I don't know if you remember yeah I think we did it we did a trick and then he fell at the end and his board shot out and came back at him cuz it was on a half pipe yeah yeah and it came back under his chest but like right here yeah and if he didn't have that suspender thing yeah he didn't have the the um Bubble on he would have got rocked yeah I yeah you were like I mean there's so many close calls with jackass like it is amazing that they got away with all that for so long right I mean I I lived through a couple of them like where it was just like dude this could have all gone so South well it did go south for me once I did the loop and got knocked out and broke my pelvis so it it did happen the damn Loop man yeah I'm telling you Smithsonian send it what about the 900 Tony like how I feel like we we can't not ask about that like that was such an iconic moment like how did you prepare and and like think about like just going about that and for context like people don't know or maybe aren't aware like can you just paint the picture of like how Monumental of a moment that was Landing that um well yeah it was a big deal for me I think it was more that so I learned 720s in 1985 and then of course the the natural progression of that would be what's the next spin is 900 and so I didn't really have the the guts to try that until a few years later so I think it was maybe 80 1988 was the first time I ever tried it or 87 and because it's a whole different thing to to when you do a 720 you're really only blind to your Landing Zone once when you do a 900 you're blind to your Landing Zone twice and that's that is a huge uh shift that's that's a huge Milestone to to try to figure out so first time I tried it I was totally blind kind of land on my back and said maybe I'll try that some other time down the line um I eventually started actively trying it in the mid90s uh but credit goes to Danny way he was the first one to truly spin a 900 and figure out how to get his body back on the wall and that was in a video uh in 1989 they showed him like getting really close and then they faded out after he fell but that showed it was possible and that was truly the the turning point for that trick and in terms of in terms of the skate industry where it's like oh it maybe it can be done and so I started trying it pretty actively in the mid90s there were a few other skaters that were trying it um and I got super close in 96 um I actually put it down on the wall and rode down to the flat and then uh fell into the flat bottom and broke my rib and that was kind of it for me I was like I gave him my all and I you know I [ __ ] around and found out and then uh and then I just kind of I would try it once in a while after that but I could never really commit to it because I was just like I last time I committed to it I got broke off and then um when the X Games came around with 99 they had a best trick and there were best trick events through the through those years uh where it was the sideshow like a best trick event was like we'd have the ver contests everyone would be kind of winding down the crowd would be leaving they're like all right best trick and because it's just a bail Fest and so it was never really a big deal and and a lot of people they like to paint this false narrative that like everything was leading up to this 99x games and that everyone's gunning for this like it's not like that the the best trick event was an experiment by ESPN that was like maybe we'll try it because it seems like people have fun with it at these other events and and I skated all the other best trick events I usually did other tricks in fact I had done a varal 720 in a bre trick event prior to that so for me that was my best trick so leading up to the X Games I uh that was that was what I had in mind and and there's like I said there's all these false narratives but the the way that they picked the the way that they picked the um the people to compete was based on your results at best trick events so if anyone had placed at a best trick event they got an invite so anyone that was trying and bailing at best trick events or trying 900s didn't qualify because they didn't land anything yeah right so that's that's how that all came to be but I had no plans to try a 900 uh I did a varal 720 early on in the event and I was like I don't know where to go from here there's 10 minutes left and the announcer on site Dave Duncan called me out and was like let's see one of those 900s that's dude what you oh wow see you want to see me bail okay so I dropped in and bailed A couple but as I started you know I was bailing them more for the crowd it was just kind like here's what it looks like yeah yeah and then somewhere around my third or fourth attempt I realized like oh my my spin is consistent and my speed is consistent and this ramp is faster than anything I've ever tried it on and if I'm going to try to land it again I guess it'll be here so then I tried to put a few down on the wall um and they're kind of I wasn't really committed to it but I was getting closer and then at some point I was like like all right I'm I'm fully committed to this and I'm either going to make it or you're going to pull me out in ambulance like there was no there was no other end to that night for me like it wasn't I wasn't going to quit because I was tired yeah let's put it that way and at some point the the countdown was over like the the the time was up for us being able to skate anymore or for us for us to the the the competition time was up so whatever I was doing just was for my own sake I didn't care like that's what skateboarding is to me it's for me I'm doing it cuz I for what it provides to me so I wasn't thinking that I was still in the event or I was going to win I was like I finally I'm getting this like I'm finally figuring it out and so I finally committed to one fully committed to it and I fell forward like I did when I got hurt but I didn't get hurt and then I thought okay how do I shift my way more to the back seat as I'm landing in and I and I did that mid spin so the next one I tried I shifted my weight to my back and I fell backwards and that was the that was the moment because it was like all right I've fallen forward I've fallen backwards split the difference wow and then I made the next one wow that's how it worked I mean that that and I didn't think that we were still on air I didn't think that it counted for the event I just wanted to do it it had been so long I mean it had been like at that point 11 years of attempts that's wild wow um so that's why it meant so much to me and I think that on the broader scale people who saw that they saw they saw skateboarding sort of encapsulated yeah because that's what skateboarding is skateboarding is just setting your own challenge trying it for uncomfortably long until you finally get it and there's no accolades for that but it's what it brings you is what it's important and I think they saw that on display with what I was doing and and any skater that saw it was like yeah that's what I go through learn [ __ ] kickflips like you know what I mean it's not it we all have that same shared experience but to an outsider they saw something different because you don't see that in other sports yeah you don't see that that sort of repetition and obsession on display I mean people have it no question but but there's no way to really show that um so it you know there it it changed for me it was it was the best out to competing it was like I was considering not competing anymore that year and it was like that was the highest note I could have ended on so but it was like I said it was in in the moment it was spontaneous I had no intention of doing that um you know contrary to to conspiracy theories I I had no there was no way I could have plann that yeah um and then I had to call never soft the next morning and say you guys I made a 900 we should probably put it in the game and they're like we're in our like we're in the final beta version here like but we're but but I do remember the the owner um Joel have never stopped he's like way ahead wow cuz they watched it happen wow like so we're going to we're going to figure it out that's that's crazy dude that's wild because so many times you hear about that story and like it it was all building to that but the fact it was a public trial and error and that you decided cuz Danny's long lost Uncle decided to challenge you on the announcer uh like I talk to him too we could the same last name yeah I used to talk to him on Facebook when I used to do the stretching Stu D's the voice of skateboarding man he's been around for he's been around since great I started that's I didn't even know that and he's still doing it like still go to an event you'll still hear his voice wow he's a legend yeah um but it's funny cuz he reminded me of that recently where he did an interview about it and he and I was like oh yeah it was Dave that's so funny that like put me on the spot that's amazing I'm so thankful he did yeah I never KN that story that's amazing you probably would have never done it if you wouldn't have said anything on this I I probably would have tried because I didn't know where to go like I had no I I had I had one trick that was my sort of safety trick for the best trick uh it was a cavalari 360 varal so like my board does a 720 and I do a 360 and I made that like second try and then the varal 720 which is the board does a 900 and I do a 720 was like okay I've only made that once in my life maybe I can make it in 20 minutes and then I made that like the next two tries later and so by then I had 10 minutes left and I had nowhere to go what do you think the most will be like in the next like 50 years well I mean Mitchie did a 1260 so how many more you think we got I don't know is there a trick that somebody's trying that is like that's the 2520 uh well so gee Curry um from Brazil yeah he spun the first 1080 on a regular vert ramp he has been trying kickflip 900s that's crazy I I predict he'll do it wow he'll figure it out yeah hey tell that incredible yeah yeah thanks for having me you guys yeah thanks for coming this is a it's been a wild to hear it from the horse's mouth not I'm the horse yeah no Honestly though thank you so much it's my pleasure

Channel: Happy Endings

Views: 175,447

Keywords: happyendings, happy endings, danny duncan, dannyduncan, jon youshaei, youshaei, jonyoushaei, happy endings podcast, happy endings danny duncan, danny duncan happy endings, danny duncan jon youshaei, danny jon podcast, happy endings youshaei, tonyhawk, tonyhawkproskater, skateboarding

Id: E7Y_qvAK7DU

Length: 59min 36sec (3576 seconds)

Published: Thu Jan 11 2024