“I Would Stand Around”: Tony Hawk Breaks Silence on Being Shunned Despite Being a Skateboarding Legend

Legendary skateboarding icon Tony Hawk has been pushing the board and pulling off tricks long before the sport of skating became renowned. Hawk is the greatest pioneer of skateboarding and made it a part of mainstream sports. Winning several titles and honors, Hawk made sure to put himself on the skateboarding map, then put skateboarding on the map.

However, with the sport not being taken seriously in his time, skateboarding lacked sponsors, fans, and even players. This made skateboarders like Tony Hawk struggle a lot with making money. In a recent video interview, Tony Hawk opened up about the financial struggles he had to face and how he was taking up any job he could get.

Tony Hawk on odd and random jobs

It may appear on the surface that Tony Hawk was doing good in his early days, but the reality was very different. While Hawk had his own company named ‘Birdhouse,’ it wasn’t making him any money. Hawk said that it was hard to get by in his 20s because people thought he was too old for skateboarding. Due to this, the skateboarder had to take up the most random and odd gigs to make ends meet. He revealed this in a video interview with Andrew Huberman.

The 55-year-old ace skateboarder said that he would be asked to do videos and commercials. However, he was tasked with off-screen jobs and not on-screen ones. He said that he was asked to be the stuntman and the guy who showed the ropes to people. More so, he was asked to come a day prior to give people insights and tell them about the good angles and techniques. “I would stand around. I was getting paid, I didn’t care,” said Tony Hawk.

Financial turmoil and making ends meet

Tony Hawk said that it took him many years to start getting some serious cash flow. He said that his income streams were very unreliable. At one time, Hawk said that he even struggled to pay his water bill while keeping everything running.

Hawk said he didn’t have the financial shrewdness he currently had back then. However, according to him, things changed when he had his first child. With the addition of a new responsibility, the skateboarder started to make more calculated and pragmatic decisions.

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Tony Hawk is currently a retired skateboarder. He has won a total of 73 titles and consecutively won the Vert Skater of the Year title from 1984 to 1996. He has created several original moves and tricks on the skateboard and has inspired several people to pick up skateboarding. ‘Birdbox,’ the company co-founded by Hawk, is a leading brand in skateboarding parts, equipment, and apparel.

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