00:00So what's it like becoming the face of skateboarding?
00:03Well, let's ask him.
00:03Let's bring in Tony Hawk right now.
00:05Tony, good to have you here.
00:07Good to be here. Thank you.
00:08Well, let's talk about first about what you're doing with Julian's Auctions.
00:11Tell us about the 900 collection that you're auctioning off here.
00:14Well, you know, I didn't save a lot of my stuff through the decades of skating,
00:19but I did have some ones that seemed to remain around me,
00:23and I realized that I could get a collection together
00:26and maybe offer it to fans.
00:29Like I said, I'm not real sentimental about all this stuff,
00:32but I do have all the gear that I used at that event in X Games 1999,
00:37my skateboard, my shoes, my helmet, and my knee pads,
00:41and then I have a lot of other one-of-one items like these ones behind me.
00:46This is actually the first pro model I ever received that I rode.
00:50This one was a one-of-one that was actually caught in a house fire,
00:55so it's smoke-damaged, and it's got a lot of history.
00:58And this is the 900 board right here.
01:01Yeah, and Tony, when you look at the 90s and the X Games
01:04and the rise of skateboarding primarily because of you,
01:08for these moments that you were able to accomplish such incredible feats,
01:12skateboarding was in a tremendous spot.
01:14But since then, we haven't heard as much.
01:16What have you been doing lately to help continue the rise of skateboarding,
01:19maybe getting involved in a skateboarding league
01:21or investing in a league of any sort?
01:23What are you doing on your end to help continue to grow skateboarding?
01:27Whatever I can.
01:28Advocacy, we have a foundation for public skate parks called The Skate Park Project.
01:33We've been doing that since 2002 and helped to open over 700 skate parks across the U.S.
01:39So, I mean, to be honest, I feel like that's probably the way I'm most effective
01:43in terms of using my voice and my recognition to open more facilities
01:49so that people have more access.
01:51But, I mean, you'd be surprised.
01:52Skateboarding is as big as ever.
01:54And it's in the Olympics now.
01:55So, it's more of a where are you looking?
01:58Well, yeah, I wanted to ask about that because you were definitely one of the people
02:01that really sort of advocated for skateboarding to be included in the Olympics.
02:04And it got it in 2020.
02:06What was that feeling like of finally getting it there?
02:09Well, to be honest, I think for me it was more it was about time.
02:13If you're not including a sport like skateboarding in the Olympics
02:16for considering how popular it is and how similar it is to, say, snowboarding,
02:20then you're just in denial of how big it really is.
02:25But I still think it'd be a great opportunity.
02:26So, I was campaigning for it as much as I could.
02:29And, yeah, it's in Tokyo and then it was in Paris and now it's going to be in L.A.
02:32And hopefully there'll be more disciplines.
02:35So, I feel like we're on the right track.
02:36Yeah, skateboarding, as you mentioned, bigger than ever, especially on the world scale.
02:40And you're such a big part of that.
02:41What was the secret sauce from the video game to the iconic just historic feats that you accomplished?
02:48Most people that grew up like myself and even Baker grew up a huge fan of Tony Hawk
02:52as an athlete, bigger than even skateboarding.
02:55What made you one of the biggest superstar athletes of your time to put skateboarding on the map?
02:59What do you think it was?
03:00I think a lot of my name recognition comes from video games.
03:04That is not lost on me and I would never discount how important that was to my career and my longevity.
03:12I mean, I was never going to quit skating, but the idea that people are even still interested
03:15in what I do in my late 50s is baffling to me.
03:20But I love it and, you know, I'm living the dream.
03:22It's amazing.
03:23Well, and we're seeing in college a lot of athletes now being able to utilize their name, image,
03:27and likeness, something you've been able to do throughout your entire career.
03:30What advice do you have for those in terms of building a brand and building your name
03:35as sort of something that you're sort of behind?
03:39You've got to keep moving.
03:41You've got to keep trying to outdo what you did before.
03:45Keep challenging yourself.
03:47You know, longevity is one of the hardest things, especially in sports.
03:51And I just never quit.
03:52That's my secret.
03:53I never quit skating.
03:54I always try to keep improving my skills.
03:56And I think people at some point appreciated that.
03:58I never quit.
03:59I never quit.
04:00I never quit.
04:01I never quit.
04:02I never quit.
04:03I never quit.
04:04I never quit.
04:05I never quit.
04:06I never quit.
04:07I never quit.
04:08I never quit.
04:09I never quit.
04:10I never quit.
04:11I never quit.
04:12I never quit.
04:13I never quit.
04:14I never quit.
04:15I never quit.
04:16I never quit.
04:17I never quit.
04:18I never quit.
04:19I never quit.
04:20I never quit.
04:21I never quit.
04:22I never quit.
04:23I never quit.
04:24I never quit.
04:25I never quit.
Comments