It’s crazy to see your heroes tell stories about imperfection, vulnerability, and hardship. Competitive sports thrive on simple plot lines that characterize athletes less as people and more like super men and women. Their physical abilities represent the pinnacle of achievement in their sport, and we look up to them for it.
Surfing is no different. But that’s why we flip on the TV or tune in to the webcast in the first place, isn’t it? We love to see what people with superhuman abilities are able to accomplish in incredible waves, or even what they can make of terrible conditions. We hold them up as being able to accomplish anything, unfazed by the obstacles of the modern world. No weaknesses. They make it look so easy!
But for as much as we idolize professional athletes, every once in a while it’s refreshing to remember they’re human too.
In the video above, and the entire 13 part interview for that matter, Graham Bensinger catches up with a Kelly Slater the general surfing public may not be accustomed to.
At 21, Kelly says, after winning a world title and earning more than $1 million, he tried to buy a house. It was then he realized he was broke.
To say he came from humble beginnings might be an understatement. “My mom was scraping quarters together to pay for my lunch at school most days,” Kelly says. “When you’re raised that way, you don’t have a lot of intelligence around money.”
Kelly’s honesty and vulnerability here is humbling. “My story is like a lot of other stories out there,” he says. And that’s the most incredible part.
A common characterization of successful professional athletes, especially the well paid ones, is they are immune to the types of financial hardship that plagues so many. Here, Kelly throws that understanding out the window. “He’s gone through some of the same trials I have,” you might say. Kelly’s story is not one of solely perfection and greatness. In other words, it’s not an anomaly. Kelly, like many, has been touched by difficulties and obstacles, and his humanity makes his accomplishments all the more inspiring.
Check out the rest of the 13 part interview here.
