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Skateboarding Legend Tony Hawk Pens a Heartfelt Message to the “Godfather” of the Sport

Published 08/18/2023, 5:30 AM EDT

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Tony Hawk is a legendary skateboarder. He is the GOAT of all and the pioneer of many new techniques. On 13th August, Hawk was on the news for sharing a picture with a legendary music artist, Tupac Shakur. He wrote a throwback note illustrating the details of the day when he met the hip-hop artist. According to Hawk’s note, Tupac was an effusive and gracious person and Hawk reminisces about the chunks of good old moments he spent with Tupac. 

Hawk often takes his social media to give credit, acknowledge, or reminisce any old memory with anyone. Besides being a skateboarding legend, Hawk considers himself a gushy person which is quite evident by his posts. Recently, the skater shared a picture of his dear friend who is also the ‘Godfather of the modern skateboard’. The co-founder of Birdhouse Skateboards shared the picture to wish his friend a delighted birthday and wrote a heartening message. 

Tony Hawk scribbles a heartfelt note to Godfather 

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Hawk wrote the message to wish his dear friend, and an influence skateboarder, John Rodney Mullen. He is the godfather of modern skateboarding, who took his every single day in practice. Hawk wrote on his Instagram, “Happy Birthday to my friend Rodney who just happens to be the godfather of modern skateboarding. His contributions to our sport/lifestyle/culture cannot be overstated.” He added a few pictures with Mullen and stated, “These images are from when we combined forces of our respective “disciplines” to perform synchronized Airwalks; one of the last times he agreed to be captured on video, and a day I will never forget.

 

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Hawk and Rodney, both know each other since Tony Hawk was 12 years old and he made an impression on Rodney. The two of them have a long history together, they both skated together as teens in a group called ‘Bones Brigade’. Later in the 1980s, they were featured in top pros tournaments but in 1989, Mullen joined the World Industries and left their group. He saw this as a downfall of their friendship but after years Tony Hawk welcomed him again with an open heart. 

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The unstirred friendship of Hawk and Mullen 

When Mullen left the group to join the world industries, he watched Hawk’s stardom from afar. But he could not gather his guts to come closer again thinking everyone would judge him, and hence he felt like an outsider. He always kept in touch but maintained the distance. Then after some time, Mullen broke his ankle during his tour and needed a companion. Finally, he gathered his grit together and reached out to Hawk, but he was not expecting any response soon.

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However, Hawk responded pretty fast and asked Rodney to meet him. They both met in a restaurant and Hawk told him to heal up soon and join skating. Tony Hawk offered Mullen to join his team by saying, “And by the way: do you want to be in my game?” Rodney was amazed to be with his friend and join the team once again, and that is how their bond braced. Not just their skateboarding tricks and techniques but their everlasting friendship is also inspiring.

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Written by:

Sheikh Ayesha

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Sheikh Ayesha is a US Sports writer for EssentiallySports. She is a sports enthusiast and has a penchant for covering American sporting events. Ayesha comes with a staunch experience in content writing and takes an avid interest in Alpine skiing and swimming.
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