ESPN claims Mat Hoffman as the toughest guy in sports. After reading this intriguing article about the history of this legend… I would have to agree.
“I was flipping and tumbling through the sky, holding on as tight as I could. I felt like someone had put me in the dryer and turned it on high. At 8,000 feet I threw my bike and stopped spinning. My chute opened at around 6,000 feet and I started looking for my target. Flying above the desert, the ground below looks like Mars; nothing but cracked earth. I saw what I thought was our van and started flying toward it. I went about three miles before I realized I was headed toward an abandoned house. I dropped into the backyard and noticed a kid sitting by a fire, roasting marshmallows. In the desert. In 100° heat. He saw me, pulled his stick out of the fire, reached it toward me and said, “Would you like a marshmallow?”
Hoffman shares even better stories about his childhood growing up and how his parents never limited or stopped him and his brother Travis from accomplishing danger. I was very entertained by this write up from Alyssa Roenigk from ESPN The Magazine.
