Kelly Slater Tears Up and Gets Candid About Surfing, Family, and His Badass Mom

Eleven-time world surfing champ Kelly Slater has been all over the news lately.

It looks like he's been having a lot of fun.

The WSL awarded him the 2024 wildcard and he just caught the first wave at his new wave pool, Surf Abu Dhabi, with a group of surfing greats. Before that, he had fun hanging out at the Formula 1 Grand Prix with some surf legends and Prince Harry.

But let's rewind to 2016 when sports broadcaster Joe Buck sat down with Slater for a deep and revealing interview.  Over the weekend, Buck re-released the interview, where they took a colorful—and emotional—trip down memory lane.

It's so emotional that Slater tears up. Several times.

Buck captioned the interview above:

"Surfing Legend Kelly Slater's drive to be great is UNMATCHED.

"Joe Buck sits down with legendary Surfing Icon Kelly Slater and goes through an amazing career living on the edge and conquering Mother Nature."

Buck is known for speaking to the most "influential athletes, coaches, and owners in sports to break down what makes them the best in the world."

At the top of the interview, he says:

"My guest tonight is not only the world's greatest surfer, but one of the most decorated athletes in any sport of all time."

The two get deep about many different things. Slater opens up about his childhood, which includes a badass mom who became the first female firefighter in their county and a dad who taught him to use guns and make bullets at 8 years old.

As a kid, his favorite surfer was Tom Curren.

"I wanted to be able to blend that Tom Curren power and style and flow with that more of a trick style that's kind of come in," he says.

But before Slater wanted to win world titles, he wanted to be a ventriloquist when he grew up.

Press play above for just under an hour of Slater flashing back. You won't regret it.

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