Joel Tudor choked out Garret McNamara after he dropped in on Jesse Billauer (pictured). Photo: Sterling Spencer // YouTube
If Joel Tudor has a problem with you, you’re going to know about it. Often that takes the form of petty online beefs, but every once in a while, he uses his hostility for good. On Sterling Spencer’s podcast Pinch My Salt, Jesse Billauer told the story of one such time, when Tudor choked out none other than Garrett McNamara after an ill-advised drop-in.
The fracas went down at Malibu. There, Billauer was sharing the lineup with McNamara and Tudor, when McNamara dropped in on him. To add insult to injury, it was a standout wave and caused Billauer to wipe out.
Of course, getting burned is bad enough for any surfer, but as a quadriplegic wave rider, it can be particularly dangerous. “People don’t realize, but when you’re laying down on the surfboard and someone drops in on you, their board is right at your face,” Billauer explained. “It’s really, really dangerous. Anyone who’s in front of me, when their board falls, it could just go straight into my face, because that’s where I’m at.”
So Tudor decided to take matters into his own hands – literally.
“We were on the beach and I was changing. Joel was talking to me and Garrett walked over,” described Billauer. “Joel put his arm around Garrett and was like, ‘Yo, you’re in Malibu, bro. You don’t drop in on Jesse. Nobody drops in on Jesse.’ And [McNamara] was like, ‘Oh man, sorry about that.’ [Tudor] goes, ‘No, nobody drops in on Jesse.’ And seriously, like five seconds later, Joel Tudor choked out Garrett McName and Garrett was on the ground out cold.
“Garrett’s girlfriend or wife at the time was like, ‘I’m going to call the police.’ Then Garrett wakes up and was like, ‘Whoa, that was gnarly.’ And he goes, ‘I’ll never drop in on you, man. Sorry about that.'”
The fracas has long been the stuff of rumors, but Billauer added a bit more color to the story.
Though it was a harsh form of justice, McNamara definitely got the message, Billauer says, and didn’t hold a grudge, either. “It was so long ago, but Garrett’s always been really nice to me after that,” continued Billauer. “I love Garrett and his wife. They’re super nice. But Joel, out of the blue, just was like, ‘Don’t ever drop in on him,’ and five seconds later, Garrett was just on the floor in a rear naked choke.”
