Tony Hawk's latest trick? Being a cool grandpa.

Yahoo

10-06-2025

Tony Hawk has a new name these days: Papa. The professional skateboarder is now a grandfather.
"I'm Papa. My wife is Momo," Hawk tells Yahoo Life. "And so it's like, 'Papa, time for a change!' Papa changes diapers."
As a father of four and stepfather of two, Hawk, 57, has spent years rearing children on top of his career as the world's most famous skater. But with the arrival of Ronin — the baby boy who his oldest son, Riley Hawk, and Riley's wife, Frances Bean Cobain, daughter of Courtney Love and the late Kurt Cobain, welcomed last September — he's discovering the distinct difference between parenting one's own children and being an active (not to mention indulgent) grandparent.
"I totally understand people who gush over being grandparents. I used to be like, 'It's so mushy. Come on, grandparents.' Then, when your child has a child, it just sets you up for fun times," Hawk explains. "I mean, there's a look that Ronin gets when he walks through our house threshold, like through the door, where you can see it. It's like, This is my domain now. No one's telling me no, and I have two grandparents at my full control. And we embrace it. We love it."
Hawk and his wife, Catherine Goodman, occasionally get the phone call to babysit at the last minute. It's an opportunity they jump at.
"'Can you guys watch them for a couple of hours today or tonight?' Yep. Even though we had plans, it doesn't matter," he laughs.
It's all part of a new chapter of life for the former Southern California skateboarding phenom turned sports icon, video game muse and entrepreneur. In a recent Instagram post marking his stepson Calvin's college graduation, Hawk reflected on seeing his kids pursue higher education in contrast to his own more unconventional career path. "I was skating, touring and gleaming cubes right after high school," he shared in the post. "I grabbed my diploma and walked off campus forever, never looking back."
It "just gives you so much pride that they are finding their own way," he tells Yahoo Life of seeing his brood grow up on their own terms. "We're trying to give them as much support as we can, resources, even opening doors or making introductions. But they have to walk through it, and they have to do the work. Nothing is just given to them because of my own success. I think we're just proud that they choose to try new things."
While Hawk wants to support his kids as much as he can, he does his best to avoid being overbearing or restrictive. "I definitely am not a helicopter parent," he says. He points out that as "a kid in the '70s and '80s, we were kind of feral and didn't have a lot of guidance."
And even as a pro athlete himself, he was never that dad screaming at his kids' sports games "to the point where it's about you." Adds Hawk: "It's as simple as that. Don't be the one being too loud or disputing the umpires. That's not a good look. And it makes your kid want to shrivel up and disappear."
All of his kids skate; Riley has even gone pro. Guiding them through an occasionally dangerous sport while being relatively hands-off is a unique challenge. "I like to have a good gauge of their abilities and then let them push it to an extent where they feel like they're outside of their comfort zone, but not in peril," says Hawk, whose new video game, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4, comes out July 11.
Hawk knows a lot about putting himself in peril. Three years ago, he attempted a trick (a bit carelessly, he admits) that was dangerous and complicated. "I didn't really have enough speed and I just f***ed around and found out," he says. He ended up breaking his femur. The road to recovery was long and painful.
"I have had my share of injuries — broken bones, concussions and things like that. But when you break your femur, that's the biggest bone in your body," he notes. "There's a feeling that you get where you realize your limb is completely disconnected, and there's nothing you can do about it. You can't stand up and walk it off."
Since the accident, Hawk has committed to a regular exercise regimen. In addition to getting back on his board, he now works out three times a week and emphasizes strength training. He believes staying in motion is the key to feeling healthy as he ages — which is especially important with a young grandson to keep up with.
"I think atrophy is the surefire way to suddenly age beyond your years," he says.
It's also the relationships with his children that keep Hawk feeling young. His trick for nurturing those connections is simple: Stick around.
"Be involved, be there, be present. That's it," he says. "You never know when the next milestone is gonna come along."