Dad?
We’ve all heard the rumors. The Florences are one of the surfing world’s most respected families, and fortunately for them, their humble abode is located on the most photographed and magnified beach in the entire world – the North Shore.
John John is undoubtedly the Peyton Manning of the Florence family, and his brothers Nathan and Ivan could be stitched together and fairly compared to Peyton’s brother Eli.
John John’s humbly beautiful mother Alex seems like one of the most rad women to ever grace planet earth. In the heyday of an emerging surf marketing frenzy she decided to migrate to the North Shore – and all three of the boys soon emerged as incredible surfers.
Baby JJF was born on October 18, 1992 and grew up surfing one of the most technical left hand barrels in the world. That’s not to take any credit away from the prodigy-turned-superstar, though – the kid is an absolute anomaly. We have never seen a human capable of as lofty an alley-oop or as technical a backside barrel ride in the history of the sport.
But it takes two to tango, right? So where is John John’s father? “I don’t know,” some of you whisper. “It’s Kai Otton!” others shout. “Kai Otton for sure!” But that doesn’t quite add up. I’m pretty sure I’ve figured it out: it’s Kelly Slater. It all makes sense. It’s really the only explanation. Only the blood of an 11-time world champion could be running through John John’s veins.
There may be tangible evidence to prove otherwise, but I think you should watch these videos before drawing conclusions. Note Kelly’s reaction (at 1:23 and 1:25, respectively) when John John calls him dad.
