Hampton Style - July 11, 2008 - Tony Hawk

Tony Hawk is among that rare breed of athlete-entrepreneurs whose name has come to define their chosen sport-if not transcend it. Since turning professional at the age of 14, the Southern California-bred skater has transformed a slacker outlaw parking-lot pastime into a respected competitive sport and multi-billion-dollar industry. In his early years, he won nearly every skateboarding competition he entered, and by 16 was considered the number-one skateboarder in the world. While officially retired from competition and now clocking in at 41, crowds still gape at his aerial repertoire of acrobatics and contortionist flips. Hawk's style is unmistakable: effortless and precise, with limbs extended at impossible angles-a kind of human origami on a skateboard. And for anyone who has seen the man perform those half-pipe staples, there is little wonder how he earned the moniker Bird Man. The guy literally soars.

Theses days, more kids are "shredding rails" than joining Little League, and thanks to Hawk's video-game empire, which quickly gained a cult following across generations, "kick-flip to crooked grind" is something of a household term. It's little surprise that across the world, kids rush home from school each day to get lost in Tony Hawk's virtual reality. What is surprising is that he has managed to appeal simultaneously to these kids and their soccer moms and executive dads. Who knew skating was a "family" sport? Due largely to this broad appeal, Tony Hawk Inc (which licenses and markets skateboards, apparel, shoes and videos) now grosses hundreds of millions annually.

The 1999 X-Games is where his fame catapulted, when Hawk landed his epic "900"-virtually 2 ½ airborne flips. Young America instantly found a newborn enthusiasm for the sport, and Hawk was thrust into mainstream stardom. Since then he's garnered the unofficial, but undisputable, role of elder spokesman for the sport. They call him the Godfather of skateboarding. "I never imagined I'd be here, or expected fame or fortune. I was just a kid doing tricks in empty swimming pools at a time when you could only dream of making a career out of skating." Hawk counts his greatest success as simply making it at doing something he loved, raising a family and "maintaining some semblance of normalcy. I try to keep myself grounded by not forgetting where I came from."

These humble beginnings refer to his childhood in San Diego when he was "a hyper-active geek on a sugar buzz" struggling through classes and the monotony of Monday mornings. He found his calling when his brother gave him a hand-me-down Banana-shaped skateboard for his eighth birthday. The culture was slowly gaining status among anti-establishment youth and the gawky outcast found refuge at the local skate park, "mimicking pros and collecting scars."

"I grew up near one of the last remaining skate parks in the US," says Hawk in a raspy voice and with that distinct Southern California accent. "It was my sanctuary. We were outsiders, kids who didn't fit in. I found my community there. Every kid deserves that."

Years later, Hawk now hopes to foster such a community through the Tony Hawk Foundation. Founded in 2001, its mandate is to bring skate parks to low-income neighborhoods and at-risk kids across the nation. A family man, with three sons and a newborn daughter, Hawk has even more reason to ensure that kids have a safe public forum to practice the sport.

"Skateboarders weren't always outlaws, they just never had a legal, public space to practice," he explains. "I saw a void, a serious disconnect between the city officials and skate community. Parks were being built by people who clearly didn't understand the sport. Despite all their self-congratulations, kids would hate them and go back to the streets to get chased and scolded."

Since its inception, the foundation is responsible for building over 300 parks across the country and gifting myriad grants to under-privileged youths. This August, the charity will host its first ever East Coast event, alongside the Boom Boom HuckJam tour, which Hawk describes as the Cirque de Soleil of action sports. Mixing daredevil stunts with live music, it brings the world's best motocrossers, BMX bikers and skateboarders to arenas around the country. This awe-inspiring performance is choreographed to exploding pyrotechnics, lights and high-decibel hard rock bands.

"These guys are more rock stars than athletes. It's free-format, pure exhibition and non-competitive." Among the attendees will be his friend Andre Agassi, the tennis legend whose own fundraiser plays out in the Hamptons shortly thereafter. For Tony's big show, he and his team schlep more gear than a Rolling Stones concert across the country. He was so passionate about the idea at its inception that he spent over $1 million of his own money to build the state-of-the-art skate ramp. After the demos, fans regularly surround the lanky athlete; boys in wallet chains hold out their skateboards for autographs and mothers flaunt toddlers in Hawk-brand T-shirts.

Hawk's deals, which earn him millions, rank the pioneer among the richest pitchmen in any sport. What sets him apart is his pipeline to young consumers. However, hero-worshippers are notoriously fickle, and Hawk faces a daunting challenge with his cultish following: how to build his brand while avoiding deals that cast doubt on his iconoclast image. For that reason, Hawk has steered clear of some mega-deals and makes sure to have the final say as to what products or programs he endorses. He's turned down having pasta shaped like him, for example, a Nike campaign and a tour in the Middle East sponsored by a tobacco company.

" Luckily I have the option with my success to turn down some things, and the clout to reinvent campaigns. People think you can make any product cool by sticking skateboards into the mix but kids are much more savvy these days. They grew up on television, on MTV! You can't stick some radical guy into a commercial and convince them the product is worth their time. It's got to be legitimate, it's got to be about hardcore and make sense to what skateboarding is and has always been."Still, there are staunch purists who condemn the mainstream emergence of the sport, and who blame Hawk, wishing the spotlight would dim on the once "underground" pastime.

He adds that there's an upside to mainstream appeal. "It legitimizes people who devote their lives to the sport and have nothing to show for it otherwise. Now kids have more resources. "

At this point in his career, Tony Hawk has a name so mired in brand names, myths and sport banter, a legend so mammoth, that it sometimes eclipses the man behind it. There are the Jeep commercials, the Tony Hawk roller coaster at Six Flags, the countless videogames and consumer products. "Sometimes people don't realize I exist, that I'm an actual person or that I had a pro career before the video game thing," he laughs. "They think I'm just a character on Playstation!"

Inside his California-based office, however, his devotion to the sport is readily evidenced. Skateboards line the walls. A glass-encased box sits at the center of the room where Hawk broadcasts his Sirius Radio show. During the day, he sneaks away to the cavernous back room where the ceiling was raised 10 feet to accommodate a giant half pipe. Here, he and his cohorts ride the ramp to the sound of hardcore rock between meetings.

"Today I am 41 and a father of four. I have many job titles-CEO, executive producer, senior consultant, foundation chairman, bad actor-but the one I'm most proud of is professional skateboarder. I'll always be tied to the core of skating because I do it every day," Hawk enthuses. "When I started out, you didn't get rich or famous doing it. You did it because you loved it. I couldn't justify doing all of the other stuff if I weren't out there walking the walk.

"You don't find jaded, overpaid professionals in skating like you do in certain mainstream sports. Pro skaters are very approachable. I think people still appreciate that about skating."

Hawk happily takes time to sign autographs and answer fan-mail. Compared to other celebrity sportsmen, there seem to be fewer layers between himself and the public. To look at the veteran and sport legend, you can still see that maladjusted kid with wild blond hair who was once so skinny he had to wear elbow pads on his knees. That's the kid he's looking out for with his foundation and his goal of skate parks for everyone. Just because he spent many long years feeling like an outsider, it doesn't mean that this new generation has to. They've been very good to Tony Hawk, and he's about to repay the favor.