Tony Hawk’s Greatest Trick? Becoming a Middle-aged Skateboard Star

For a long time, the skateboarding icon Tony Hawk’s career appeared to have followed the trajectory of one of his tricks: He built up momentum during the 1980s and early 1990s, launched into an airborne peak in the late 1990s and early 2000s (thanks to his success in the newly televised X Games competitions and the popularity of the Tony Hawk Pro Skater video games) and then made a somewhat jarring return to Earth, pulled down by age and diminished cool. But improbably, Hawk has defied the laws of pop-culture gravity. Over the last few years, aided by his charmingly self-deprecating social media presence and inspiring ability to maintain his still-formidable vert-ramp skills, Hawk has attained near-folk-hero status by proving that it’s possible to have a viable career as a 53-year-old professional skateboarder. “I’m doing it against all odds, in terms of Father Time,” Hawk says. “But I still have that drive. I still have the skill. So why not?”

The big criticism you used to get from skateboarding purists was for being a sellout. But the idea of selling out doesn’t meaningfully exist in today’s culture — people just accept that there’s no real way to avoid working with corporations and big-name brands. Is that a good thing? I see it as much more accepting. It’s like, “Hey, good for you that you got that Subway commercial.” There will always be people who have this other sense of morality, and they’re like, “You’re working for the man” and “globalization” or whatever else they’re coming up with, but that’s their view. It’s impossible to please everyone, and it’s even harder to stay super core because at some point you’ve got to provide for your family. I was always transparent about endorsing things. Like, I ate at McDonald’s. I still eat McDonald’s. I got a bacon, egg and cheese biscuit two days ago. So it wasn’t like I was changing my value system to get paid. It’s that my value system differs from others’.

Is it right that your business card used to list your title as “media whore”? [Laughs.] Yeah.

So where was the line for what you would or wouldn’t endorse? If I felt that it was disconnected from skating and was just trying to utilize skating’s cool factor to sell a product that had no business being there — I mean, there were times when I got offered to do a cologne. I felt like, I don’t think people are associating me with high fashion. Another one was gummy vitamins shaped like skateboards. That felt forced.

Not like Bagel Bites? Well, Bagel Bites — I have kids who love them. And they were going to pay me to do a commercial? Awesome. I genuinely was a consumer.

But now all those old criticisms have really faded away, and I think a lot of that has to do with your social media. Especially how every once in a while you’ll get a viral tweet out of sharing a story about someone not recognizing you at a skate park or wondering if you’re the “real” Tony Hawk. And the responses to those tweets show such affection. What accounts for that? Is it Gen X nostalgia? Just to clear up that whole meme: Generally when I’m out and about, people will recognize me: “Hey, are you Tony Hawk?” “Yeah.” “Oh, let me get a selfie.” “OK, cool.” That’s the interaction. But often I get the mistaken identity, or they’ll see my ID and it says Anthony Hawk and they somehow can’t make that connection. Those are the ones I share, because I think they’re funny. I don’t expect people to recognize me. It’s fine if they don’t; I’ll play along with it. It drives my daughter crazy. We were at a coronavirus testing place, and this woman said: “Kady Hawk? Anthony Hawk? Are you guys related to Tony Hawk?” And I said: “Yes. Directly related.” “Oh, that’s so cool.” Then off we went, and my daughter was like, “Why didn’t you tell her?” I’m not going to pretentiously be like, “Well, actually, that is me.” I know that people think somehow I’m making them all up. I saw a couple of people who were like, “Oh, yeah, he’s got a video game coming out; now he’s doing all this P.R. and making up stories.” That’s the internet. You can’t win.

But I guess what I’m really trying to get at is your perception of a shift in feeling about you. For example — forget about the sellout thing — in old issues of Thrasher magazine, there would be times when aficionados would even criticize your skateboarding style. Now that negativity is gone. Do you feel that difference? Oh, yeah, absolutely. I persevered through a lot of ridicule and critique. Especially when I was successful as a competitor, because people thought these big companies don’t belong in skateboarding: “How could you be sponsored by a Club Med or Hot Wheels or McDonald’s?” I took it in stride because when I first started getting successful at skating, my style was ridiculed — so I had already been through all this flak. I was scrawny, I was skinny, I didn’t look cool. I didn’t flow the way the old-school guys did. I wasn’t a Dogtown guy. So they were like, “Who’s this little robot kid doing circus tricks with a skateboard?” I’d finally found in skateboarding the one thing that speaks to me — which already set me apart from my peers, because it’s an outcast activity — and then I was an outcast in that. It was so crushing. But skateboarding gave me much more happiness, so I was prepared to deal with that disappointment. So, yeah, the years of becoming the king sellout, according to the hard-core skaters — I didn’t care. I learned to be resilient early in life. Now, absolutely, I can’t believe the positive feedback I get. I’m so thankful that people still think I’m relevant, that they want to see what I do. I mean, the thing that I did a couple of months ago — my last Ollie 540 — I did that because I thought it was fun. I wasn’t trying to make some viral moment. And it blew up! I remember when I first learned to Ollie 540, it was on a backyard ramp with two people watching. That’s a big change.

You were bullied as a kid. Did that experience color things for you later on? I always carry a little of it — always wondering if people think I’m awkward. But over the last 10 years, I’ve come to terms with how people — not how people see me, but with my confidence levels. I used to come off as arrogant because I didn’t feel comfortable in my own skin. Kids would come up to me looking for some acknowledgment, and I didn’t even know how to talk. So they would be like: “He’s stuck up.” “He won’t talk to me.” I’ve learned to break out of that discomfort. It’s much more fun now. I love meeting kids who skate, and I think the thing a lot of them take away from it is that I’m a skate rat at heart, too.

Your son Riley is a pro skater. Have you learned things about the industry from his career? Because it’s very different than when you started. Now it’s all about making social media content rather than competing or getting sponsorships. Well, I knew it was possible to make a career as a skateboarder without having to compete, just by making sure that you are providing content. The more surprising element is that he has figured out how to maintain a public persona. I’m proud that he was able to come out from what was probably a very difficult shadow of mine. There were some years when he got discouraged from skating, and I think it was largely because of the attention he got from being my son. He actually kind of quit skating for a year or so when he was about 14.

Did you care? I understood it. He was trying to figure out what he wanted to do. He wanted to ride Motocross. And he was OK, but he wasn’t a phenom. I remember one day we were driving home from the track, and he was talking about how he was trying to get sponsored for Motocross. I told him: “Riley, I know you love doing this, but I think that if you want to choose a career and you want to get sponsored, skateboarding is probably the best option, because you’re really good for your age. And I’m not saying that because I’m your dad. You are a phenomenal skater. And in Motocross, you’re having fun, but you’re not going to races, you’re not doing tricks. And so, I don’t want to discourage you from that but — ” I think he listened to me.

Did you have any concerns from a physical standpoint about your kid following in your footsteps? I mean, how many bones have you broken? I did. But I feel like my kids are all aware of their limitations. I’ve only officially broken two bones.

“Officially”? Yeah. I fractured my pelvis. I fractured my skull, fractured my thumb, broke my elbow. I had plenty of sprains and scrapes. And I’ve had concussions through the years. For sure I’m concerned for my own kids. But how could I possibly discourage them from doing the thing that brought me the most joy besides them?

What is your physical state these days? There are tricks that I don’t want to attempt any more because the risk far outweighs the reward. They’re tricks that I used to take for granted, and it’s like, I’m not really going to get a lot out of doing it again unless I decide, all right, I’m going to put my mind to it and make this the last one. But so many of those tricks — I know the cost of one tiny mistake. It could be devastating. So that doesn’t interest me. But the state of my body? I feel healthy. My neck is super stiff. That’s probably the one ongoing issue, and not getting any better. You know when you call out to someone, and they turn to look? When I turn, you’d be like, “Oh, what’s wrong with your neck?”

Personally, I decided to stop skateboarding after I did a 720 kick-flip. Because it was perfect, or because you got hurt?

Obviously I did it perfectly. That’s unfortunate then. You really could have gone somewhere with skateboarding. I’ve only ever seen a 720 heel-flip, by the way. So if you did that trick, you would have an N.B.D.

I’ve never actually ever been on a skateboard, but thank you for humoring me. Whether it’s in skating or business, what are you most excited to try next? We’re emerging from this strange year: I have my first public appearance coming up in June. I’m speaking at a Bitcoin conference. I’ve been investing in Bitcoin for almost 10 years. I can’t say that I got mega-rich, but I can’t complain either.

“I can’t say that I got mega-rich.” What does that mean? You made millions? Ah, close to. Not quite. I don’t know how to answer that correctly. I cashed out a bit a few years ago when Bitcoin was on its other tear. That came at a time when, honestly, my career seemed to be dwindling. About three years ago, four years ago, it was hard to get sponsorships. I understood. I’m definitely one of the oldest skaters trying to make it as a pro. But at the same time, I was like, I’m still out there, I’m still relevant — why can’t I land things? Also, the idea of endorsements was morphing. Everything had become social media. It wasn’t like you’re getting a three-year contract with an automobile manufacturer. It was more like here is a five-month promotion with a restaurant or a franchise. All of that was shifting, and I wasn’t really getting it. I’m digressing, but suddenly my fun project of Bitcoin was blowing up, and I was like, Oh, we can pull out money for Christmas gifts. That is literally what happened.

I don’t know anything about buying Bitcoin. What’s some advice? Buy the dip.

You know, I read the tour-diary book that you wrote years ago, which honestly seemed kind of sanitized. Are there rowdier stories that didn’t make it into print? Oh, yeah, sure. But I feel I’ve come a long way in terms of personal growth. I’m trying to stay on the straight and narrow. The kind of stories maybe you’re talking about are more, like, rock-star type of stuff when we were in our teens and 20s. And a lot of it was careless or even disrespectful in some ways, and I don’t like to celebrate that, especially as a father. It seems distasteful to be like, Yeah, we did this and that and chicks, you know? I’m a grown-ass man with a family.

Has the culture of skateboarding as far as gender equality changed since you were young? Society changed, and skateboarding has evolved with society. Back in the day, it was considered this sort of guys’ sport. Female skaters were few and far between. The last five to 10 years has changed dramatically in terms of the diversity and the acceptance, the compassion and the understanding that skateboarding can be anyone’s identity. The irony in the early days was that skateboarding set you apart; you chose it because it was a different culture, a different attitude, different music, but at the same time, it wasn’t accepting of so many different types of people in terms of gender or sexual orientation. Now it’s much more welcoming and progressive. That’s so exciting. I can’t believe that at my age, I’m still able to participate.

Think you’ll ever stop? If my skills are truly fading and I’m just going through the motions, I wouldn’t be doing it in public. I won’t be on display. But I’ll still be skating.

Opening illustration: Source photograph by JB Lacroix/WireImage, via Getty Images.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity from two conversations.