Tony Hawk Painted 100 Skateboards With His Own Blood

You may think you know everything there is to know about skateboarding legend Tony Hawk, but the famous athlete has tons of cool stories you’ve probably never heard before. For Men’s Health, Hawk looked at some of the comments about him shared across social media, and gave pretty great stories about his career and even the time he met Tupac.

Hawk skated professionally throughout the ’80s and ’90s (and of course still skates today). In 1994, Hawk attended the American Music Awards. When he was backstage, he saw Tupac standing alone and took the chance to introduce himself. But did the famous rapper recognize him? “He was very cool, very affable,” Hawk says. “He did not know who I was.”

Another major highlight of Hawk’s career was actually in 2021, when he partnered with Liquid Death to create a limited edition line of skateboards. The catch? The 100 skateboards were all painted with his blood.

Hawk says the inspiration came from when the band KISS used their blood as paint back in the ’70s with a comic book. After his skateboard promotion, Hawk decided to purchase the comic book to display next to his blood-painted skateboard. “Now it’s come full circle,” he says.

And after his long career, you may be wondering, how does Hawk, now 55 years old, stay in shape? He says the key is consistency. “I just never stopped skating for any great length of time,” he says. “Even if I’m not skating, I try to go surfing and just stay in motion. That’s my big secret.”

For more about Hawk’s skateboard collecting, his work on his famous video game series, or his contribution to the skateboard emoji, check out the Don’t Read the Comments video above.