Being Evel Page #12

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most grandest way

and to continue this legacy.

announcer:

matt's definitely-- oh!

hoffman:
the extreme sports

or action sports,

whatever they're commercially

referred to,

is definitely a result

from the way evel dreamed

in the '70s

and how he wanted

to push the limits.

( "jackass" theme song plays )

you can do stunts

on television?

( laughs )

( bull grunts )

( crowd groans )

( crash, laugh )

evel had to make his jumps.

the stunts i do,

i know they're gonna fail.

( laughs )

mat hoffman and i

did a tribute to evel.

hello,

i'm johnny knoxville,

and i'm about to back flip

this bike.

hoffman:
i think we should

push the limits,

get some of our friends

together

and just set some records

and just celebrate evel's life.

and, uh,

that's what we did.

ugh! -- !

and i broke my --

in that tribute.

- oh! oh!

- are you gonna okay?

oh, yeah,

i feel great.

no, really,

i tore my urethra.

thanks a lot, evel.

yeah, i've definitely

been compared to evel knievel.

i think that's because

of the fact

that i have had

some big crashes.

so i figured i'd see how far

i can fly the harley davidson

in honor of evel knievel.

knoxville:
when seth enslow

did that record-breaking

harley davidson jump,

he dedicated it to evel.

and when robbie maddison

set the new world record

for distance by jumping

over an entire football field,

he did it

on the 40th anniversary

of evel's caesar's palace jump.

( cheers and applause )

evel knievel was always

in the back of my mind,

like,-- and it wasn't like

we had forgotten about him.

we just didn't really know

what he was up to,

and i think that people started

asking what he was up to.

announcer:

the one and only o.g.!

evel knievel!

hawk:
it was great to see

a new generation

understand how important

he was to us.

somehow we raised

his profile again,

but he deserved that

all along.

krystal knievel:
he greatly

appreciated that the kids

paid their respects to him,

and they did,

and he was amazed by that.

don't ever forget--

you can fall many times

in life,

but you will never be a failure

as long as you try to get up.

kelly knievel:
i think my dad

liked his role

as a elder statesman

at the end of his life.

he thought it was really cool,

and where he deserved to be,

deservedly so.

i'm looking forward

to seeing what happens

in the next 20 years,

if i am so lucky

to live that long.

i had to have a hip replacement,

a complete hip replacement.

i had to have a hip replacement,

a complete hip replacement.

i had to have a--

you guys,

i'm really having problems.

why don't we--

please.

knoxville:
after a lifetime

of injuries and surgeries,

the thing that really kicked

his ass was lung disease.

williams:

if you'd asked him,

"would you rather have lived

this long, bobby,

and be this sick or

died at the end of the ramp?"

i think he would have chosen

the end of the ramp.

wilson:
the last couple

of years of his life were hell.

he was having trouble

breathing,

and being in that living hell,

he put his life

in perspective.

i think he probably

thought a lot

about the things he'd done

and thought about how badly

he treated some people.

krystal knievel:

he was preparing for the end

on every level.

he righted a lot of wrongs

with people

because he felt

like that was important.

it became important to him.

frey:
he told me that he had led

a life that he was ashamed of

in a lot of ways,

and he was just trying

to talk to the people

that he truly--

that truly meant

something to him

was the way he put it,

and put it right.

mccloud:
he said to me,

"i was so sick."

he said, "i was just

a sick person with women.

it was so wrong,"

and i said, "ah, dad,

it's so good

to hear you say that."

knoxville:
he tried to make

amends with people at the end,

and that's great,

but it's kind of tough

to put the toothpaste back

in the tube at that point.

he caused a lot of hurt.

well, first time i ever

heard him say "i'm sorry,"

he was pretty much

on his death bed.

yeah, he just said

"i'm sorry."

that was it.

you know...

the most important thing

in life, uh,

that really counts

is your scorecard with god.

the real bob knievel,

the bobby knievel,

that's the guy i knew,

and that's the guy that i loved.

and that's the guy that was

emerging back out of the slime.

( laughs ) and, uh,

i was moved by it.

blackenship:
i talked to him

the night before he died.

he said,

"you gotta do me a favor,"

and i says, "okay, what?"

and he said, "say a prayer

for me once and a while."

and i said,

"okay, all right, all right."

and he says,

"i'm worse than you think."

i was on the phone

with evel,

and he started coughing,

and the phone dropped,

and he went unconscious.

( voice breaks )

so that was it.

but it was hard.

i wasn't ready.

he was ready.

and that's what was important.

you just never thought

that evel was gonna die.

knoxville:
you know,

he was indestructible,

and then...

it... it just reminded you

that he was human.

i didn't lose the daredevil.

i lost this little kid

who at one time

i thought was my brother.

that's the indelible knievel

to me.

knoxville:

i still think he's a superhero.

and, yeah, i know

a more complete story now,

and some of the stuff is really

heartbreaking, you know?

but to me,

what he did transcends that.

most of us don't take chances

in our lives.

most of us weren't willing

to lay it on the line,

so to speak,

like he was.

what my dad did,

nobody's ever gonna do again.

but there is a little evel

in all of us.

i guess i'd like to have him

remembered as, um...

a man who,

when he was down,

got back up.

you know,

he never quit.

saltman:
i think,

in fairness to him,

they should not remember

the evil that evel did.

instead he should be remembered

for the good things he did.

in times of stress,

i believe somebody

on a white horse

wearing a white hat

will arrive.

that's the american way.

life's pretty tough.

( laughs )

life can be pretty -- tough.

and, uh...

you need your heroes, man.

( peter frampton's

"show me the way" plays )

rundle:

he used to always say to me,

he says, "that canyon

has not moved one inch,

and i do not see

a big long line of daredevils

waiting to jump it."

i wonder

how you're feeling

there's ringing

in my ears

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