Tony Hawk Finds His Enduring Fame ‘Baffling’

It’s been decades since Tony Hawk dominated the X Games, but the former professional skateboarder still draws a crowd.

“The idea that people are even still interested in what I do in my late 50s is baffling to me,” the skateboarding legend said on a recent episode of Front Office Sports Today.

At 57, Hawk is still the biggest celebrity skateboarding has ever seen, though even he said it’s “still kind of a shock” that people recognize him. He went viral in 2022 for posting about an infamous elevator encounter in which he was told “you do look like [Tony Hawk],” and summarized it as “maybe this is where it all ends.”

Hawk knows how important his eponymous video games were to his career—and his sport. He’s watched skateboarding grow from something he described as “the furthest thing from cool you could do” to a full-fledged Olympic sport in both of the past two Summer Games.

“That is not lost on me and I would never discount how important that was to my career and my longevity,” he said of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater video games.

Hawk is now preparing to auction off some of his most valuable skateboards and memorabilia, including the board he used to achieve the first 900-degree turn, or two-and-a-half revolutions. That skateboard is estimated to sell for $500,000 to $700,000, while helmets, knee pads, sneakers, and credentials are also for sale. A portion of the proceeds will go to Hawk’s foundation, The Skatepark Project, which has built hundreds of skateparks across the country.

“I didn’t think this X Games pass from 1996 would be anything ever, and now there’s other people that would be interested in it, and I just happen to have it in a drawer,” Hawk said.