Most every professional athlete has an off-season – a time when their respective sport’s season is done and vacation time beckons. For some, this means warm beaches lined with coconuts, palm fronds and cerulean blue water. Since they’re professional athletes, staying active is second nature and what better way to keep the blood pumping than to go for a surf? For others, surfing has been a way of life from Day One and baseball, rugby, etc., was a way to make a (great) living. From an Olympic snowboarder to NFL players surfing the west side of Oahu with Kelly Slater, Mark Healey and Sunny Garcia, to baseball players who soak in the brine any chance they get, this is a list of 13 professional athletes who surf.
1. Mark McMorris
Mark McMorris on some R&R in Hawaii. Photo: Instagram: Coco Ho
Ok, maybe Mark McMorris has a couple of unfair advantages over the rest of these athletes. First, the 20-year-old Canadian is one of the world’s best snowboarders. He’s currently competing in the Olympics in Sochi and, as of Saturday, has already racked up a Bronze medal in snowboarding’s slopestyle event. He also landed the first backside triple cork 1440. That’s four full rotations while flipping through the air on a sideways axis. You could say he’s familiar on a board, negotiating balance. Second, his girlfriend is Coco Ho, which means downtime is spent surfing in Hawaii. Not a bad respite from a snowy mountain.
2. Adam Scott
Adam Scott, golf’s world number two, is an avid surfer. Born in Adelaide, on Australia’s South Coast, Scott and his parents moved at a young age to the Sunshine Coast and then to the Gold Coast when he was a child. A quick break from the coast came when Scott attended school at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, but he picked up again after joining the PGA Tour, golf’s elite professional circuit, at the turn of the millennium. Traveling worldwide on the PGA Tour leads golfers annually to Hawaii and some of the best waves and courses in the world. Recently, Scott gave his everyday caddy, Steve Williams, a break to hire on professional surfer and mate Benji Weatherly to carry the bag. During his week in Hawaii, the two went bodysurfing and Weatherly was apparently impressed with Scott’s prowess in the waves.
3. Josh Kronfeld
Once dubbed the “finest open-side flanker in the world,” Josh Kronfeld isn’t someone you can easily pinpoint. He’s not only one of the best living rugby players, he’s also a year-round surfer. Hailing from New Zealand, Kronfeld surfs at home in St. Clair at a place he says, “Sometimes, I feel I never want to leave.” Amidst trade talks to an English club, Kronfeld laid his priorities on table when he said, “Maybe I’ll go for it, maybe not. How’s the surfing in England these days?”
4. Blake Griffin
Griffin, scrimmaging at Camp Pendleton. Wonder if he knew Lowers is next door? Photo: Wiki Commons | Sgt. Vitaliy Rusavskiy
NBA superstar Blake Griffin was born, raised and attended school in Oklahoma, far far away from any surf. When he was drafted, in 2009 by the Los Angeles Clippers, he charged west for a coastal life. According to one report, Griffin tried surfing though it’s typically a contract violation for NBA players. However, after two years in the league, the 6’10” center’s contract was up. In the midst of contract negotiations, Griffin said, “And then it just hit me that I don’t even have a contract right now, and so I said OK, I better get it in while I can.”
