Evel Knievel: Wide World of Sports Classic

[@karaDee2363]

I used to love watching Wide World of Sports back then, never missed it

[@depaola63]

I’m now 57 and THIS was my youth 🤩

[@scottwright388]

Same here at 57

[@bill4786]

48, same. 👍

[@G-S-D]

Loved my motorcycle toy back then.. I just seen him in Butte. He's buried next to my wife's mother. RIP Evel.

[@briancarroll.]

@@G-S-D You can get the replica now. I got one when they first came out!!! Lol the coolest toy ever 🤘😎🤘

[@wadewatson2751]

Me too buddy, great memories, better times!!!

[@cut1986]

Elvis, Evel, Ali, The Fonz, and the Six Million Dollar Man! Love my childhood!!!

[@darrinrentruc6614]

Elvis and Evel were the real deal. Henry wrinkler was a puss and could not even ride a motorcycle.

[@playedout148]

Left out Bruce Lee.

[@jamesschulziii9098]

Yes. I caught maybe late 70s reruns etc when I was 5, to say television,film and action figures we're not a huge part of being 5-6 years old is an understatement. I love this kinda stuff ❤️

[@tlebamoff]

Haha - nailed it! Add the Big Valley and Farrah.

[@7silver78fox]

You forgot Tarzan 👍

[@jamesbrown-ws3fz]

I watched him everytime on WW of Sports in the 70's,got my bike and was jumping garbage cans!!Hes was and still my hero!!!!!

[@toscodav]

Are you sure it wasn't the fonz that inspired you to jump garbage cans?

[@PolishEnforcer]

Fonz was a phony

[@onelove1968]

Every young boy and teen that ever set up a plywood ramp within a neighborhood parking lot in the 70's and 80's, was inspired by the pure passionate spirit that completely possessed this uniquely entertaining and courageous warrior.

[@cut1986]

YES!

[@lisalovelylpa]

Girls too for your info. Jumped bike off the roof of a flat top building , cleared a giant sand pile and landed on the black top , rear tire gave out , busted my left arm. But I made the jump, short time later saw Evil attempt the Grand Canyon while in my cast. Got the Evil wind up motorcycle for Christmas. Many years later , saw his son jump the fountains at Caesars in Vegas .. got his sons autograph.

[@7silver78fox]

Very well said ! You should be a sports writer. Cheers 🥂 I'm 52 now and I still remember being inspired as a boy watching Evel Knievel. Brass balls fo sho !

[@muddbosss]

What gets me are those that say they think he pulled the shoot at Snake River and that he was a fraud, BULLSHIT...this man always went threw with his stunts even when promoters and others told him to cancel but he did it anyway, we need more men like Evel...dedicated to his craft at all cost..even when he knew he wouldn't make it...long live the memory of this great American Hero!...

[@markrenkola2959]

He’s got balls the size of church bells

[@gregv79]

I just watched the Snake River jump for the hundredth time. The chute was coming out before he was all the way off the ramp. Truax essentially admitted he screwed up...I believe the same thing happened on the one test they did, same result. No way he pulled that chute.

[@fredhurst2528]

Living through the Evel saga is everything these documentaries make it out to be. I had the motorcycle toy and watched every jump that was on TV. We would jump our crappy Holiday Stores sting ray knock offs and bend up the rims. There was no one like Evel.

[@mercoid]

There were four other boys around my age on my block. We each had our won Evel Stunt Cycle toy. He was unbelievably huge with us kids in the 70’s.

[@davidsnyder2000]

I’m 53 and remember the toys that were out that Evel Knievel produced after he became a household name. I was born in late 69 so I missed most of his jumps😐😞 But I’ll never forget the the zip start motorcycle toy that would rip just like he would when he approached a jump. I absolutely loved it! Just now getting a full understanding of what all he did. What an amazing man! AND best of all to me, he knew how real God is back in the day👍He’s has most definitely been in Heaven since he left this Earth. Much love and respect gor Evel and his loved ones❤️👍🙏

[@Scott.Kristiansen]

I was born in 67, I hear you brother!

[@Carlos-r5n2b]

It's how he made most of his money, selling Toys

[@Kamandi1971]

im 48 this man was a true american superhero rip evel!

[@Papa-o33963]

N I'm 58. The man was great n his son was excellent too.

[@Kamandi1971]

@@Papa-o33963 I have a problem with Robbie he has talent but hes riding his dads last name and all the jumps he has done he has cheated using more light weight supercharged bikes not like Evel riding Harleys basically a cinder block

[@briancarroll.]

Absolutely the #1 hero of my youth! I was lucky enough to have met him! “Happy Landings” Evel Knievel

[@jasongrubbs8373]

I miss wide world of sports it was a great era of sports as I was just a kid born in 1970 but I watched every jump Evel did and set up ramps and tried to do a few in the neighborhood myself needless to say there was a lot of us kids got banged up pretty good wanting to emulate our hero and it was worth every scrape and bruise thank you Mr. Kenevel for the memories

[@motorcyclemark2889]

When I was a kid in the 70s I had a brand new 1977 yz80 I tried to jump the creek in my back yard and broke the back wheel on landing on the other side I just landed short by a foot my wheel hit hard caught the other side and broke the spokes blow the tire out I went over the handle bars I was pretty sore for a few weeks and it cost quite a bit for new wheel and tire . Never did try that again it was my grand canyon jump 😂 it was about 30 feet across to the other side I felt like I made it regardless of what happened

[@markrosenquist8259]

Haha! Nice I had a 78 RM80. I bought it used, it was 5 months old. Got it for $500. Great times!

[@franksumser9985]

I went from a schwiin stingray at 14years old to a Harley panhead at 17years old cause of evel kinevel

[@billschipper1718]

I grew up in the 70s and Evel Knievel was a icon. When other kids talk about him the broken bone count would always go up.

[@kenedie4646]

Even was a hero when I was a kid, in the early 70's. I am still a big fan. He was the greatest thing in my world back then. Nobody did what he did, unless they were influenced by him, or were copying him. Many did both, but there's only one Evel. Robbie Knievel is the successor to Evel's throne, He has broken records, and done incredible jumps. There are two Knievels. Enough said!!

[@paulmc3457]

I got the Evel Kneivel wind up jumping bike toy for Christmas in 1970, wish I still had it today, probably worth a few bucks! 😂

[@LilAlpo1]

I wanna buy it now Lol. It's on Amazon

[@francisphillips53]

Me too.. was an awesome toy!

[@baceandrews]

ⁿⁿ

[@borntoclimb7116]

The memories are better than a few dollars:)

[@bogmonster3616]

I had the Evil Soopa Doopa Jet Cycle.. You popped lighter flints in the back and sparks would fly out. My mate had the Evil Chidleswick, Choppington Sublick Stunt Cycle. And did they Fuck do what the Ideal Toy Commercial said they'd do with the back flips, jumps, summersaults etc.. They'd just shoot off at a 45 degree angle and scratch your mums skirting boards! ! 0️⃣😜1️⃣

[@surfshack2]

I remember all the jumps on WW of Sports in the early 70's. I was a little kid born in '67 and he was a superhero to me. My dad said he was nuts , a wacko..i didn't believe it, i thought he was awesome. I rooted for every jump he did. I remember the Canyon jump, they were showing it on closed circuit at the Spectrum in Philly and i begged my dad to take me...he finally said OK and we went but we got there too late and it was over....I remember asking everybody what happened and people coming out were saying he didn't make it....I was like "What? What happened!"

[@realbudgiesmugglertwohatsb2611]

Original and still the best daredevil ever bravo

[@dougshort7621]

Original says it all

[@raymondnewman9743]

That man is the reason I started riding motorcycles

[@HardRockMiner]

Thats funny. He's the reason I didn't ride motorcycles. ;)

[@iniquity123]

Me too !

[@carllwright2494]

Everybody loved Evel Knievel. He was my hero when I was a kid I got the motorcycle rev-up with Evel Knievel action figure for Christmas

[@DirtyMerkin]

That was great Thanks for posting this 👍

[@Morpheus903]

This is so cool! I was born in 1969, and I remember when everyone was talking about Evel's jumps in the 70s, but this is the first time I've seen this, and all I can say is, wow!!

[@anthonyvenney389]

I remember the show Wide World Sports from year's ago as a kid. As a little kid I had all the Evel Knievel toys. And Evel Knievel did his skycycle jump over the Snake River Canyon on September 8th the same day as my birthday.😀 RIP. Evel Knievel ❤️🇺🇸

[@darwinmartin8129]

This man is a true American 🇺🇸 legend!God bless his soul.This was a better time in this country. Thank You, Robert Craig K. Jr!!!!

[@burnychaplin4601]

Boy was this a better time in the country

[@janetphillips2875]

EVEL KNIEVEL wouldve been 86 years old yesterday, October 17th.

[@YourFreeBeats]

I saw him in 1974, Texas when he jumped over like 20 Mack trucks. It was on Wide World Of Sports. To that end, you weren’t a fan unless you rocked his lunchbox. On the real.

[@97warlock]

wow this pretty much is a complilation of his entire carreer, Awesome

[@jammer96]

The Balls this man had to do all these jumps couldn't fit on any motorcycle!!

[@proudlycanadian6212]

No man dead or alive could match his skills. Evil had no special equipment on his motorcycle, they were right off the assembly line, except the fact that he had no speedometer nor a tachometer on it, it was threw feeling and hearing the motor and eyesight. What a man. Imagine what he could have done if he had the bikes and equipment we now have. Awesome.

[@EZBNEZ]

Evel

[@kennyjohnson3837]

Evel was the shidd back in the day .. I definitely remember all of it when I was a kid now 58

[@michaelharrison6978]

Im 56 an couldnt wait for wide world of sports on sundays because thats how i seen the Daytona 500 when cale Yarborough got punched in the nose by th the allison brothers an always got to see my hero Evil an sometimes was scary an sad landing but he always came back! RIP Evil

[@MarvelousLXVII]

Evel Knievel was such a huge part of my generations youth (born 1967.) Anytime anyone rode by on a motorcycle, we would yell, "Hey--Evel Knievel!" I was too poor to have the toys but a friend of mine had the motorcycle that the Evel doll could stand on while it ran lol. I remember watching a few jumps on TV--very cool times.

[@shananagans5]

He always said "Don't do what I do, don't risk getting yourself hurt" Every single 12yo boy in the nation ignored that advice and now we have the X Games.:) lol It was truly a magical time to grow up.

[@tyrese3745]

33:10 YEOW! Talk about, as WWOS veteran host/sportscaster Jim McKay puts it in the program's intro/outro, "the agony of defeat".

[@carllwright2494]

I remember when I was a kid I watch that on wide world of sports. We got all excited about the stunt that you attempted and have done you were a true American hero. You always be in our minds and hearts 🇺🇸🦅

[@Kurr63]

I saw the Kingdome jump on the 1st night! What great memories!!!!

[@adrian_thegamer9725]

Love the move thanks for the great memories.

[@CEOkiller]

He invented extreme sports

[@blakjack3053]

Hey was that the world's first ever stage dive? 7:45

[@MrWarrenwest]

I once met Evil at the Cherry Lounge after his fame days, He seemed a nice man, may he rest in peace, also met Awful Knoffel the boxer.

[@edyoung6573]

He was my childhood hero! I had the wind up bike and used to build Lincoln log houses and try to jump them. oh the good ol days!!!

[@raymondnewman9743]

Brings back memories days of my little Z Trail 50

[@Johnny2Bags47]

The Man, The Myth. The Legend

[@leeholmes9962]

What a great stunt man the amount of jump's this man did and lived is to me amazing respect to him and his family 👍🏻🇬🇧✌🏻

[@christophercouch7116]

Dec 31th 1971🙋🙋🙋🙋 the 70s when it came to.sports... Was no joke!!!!!

[@gregosterholt394]

That was so big back in the day, lol it’s so fun to look back

[@JeannieTarantola-r2k]

I was born in 1963. I remember building ramps and jumping anything we could find to jump. I never ended up in the emergency room. But a lot of my friends did.

[@sjtom57]

I saw Evel jump twice on consecutive nights at the Spectrum in Philly. He made both jumps. I saw Robbie jump once at the Atco Dragway and witnessed one of his worst crashes. May they both rest in peace.

[@coolezum]

I met evel up in Palm Harbor Fl. Back in the late seventies early eighties. Had a beer and shot the shit with him And he was just a regular guy. No BS.

[@Buddycoop1]

Best Harley spokesperson ever. Whoooooa Nelly.

[@DonLeist]

Evel had one thing in abundance,COURAGE,nuff said.

[@petergael7804]

I didn't realize until much later that he really didn't over the trucks. He jumped in front of them. If you look closely you can see that the ramps are offset.

[@Buddycoop1]

He jumped over their hoods from what it looks like.

[@jamesbingham1007]

Frank, today I'm going to jump 15 motorcycles while driving a double decker bus. Why Evel? To remind kids to stay in school and off of drugs.

[@michaelszczys8316]

There is a video of a guy driving a Bluebird school bus over a bunch of motorcycles. It is awesome. I don’t know the address. Find it

[@dougshort7621]

Yea kidds know whats cool allways they are clean

[@Lightnin42]

Long Live Evel 🇺🇸

[@jeffred6616]

With out evil don’t think games would be as popular a true legend

[@cjrrun]

Growing up it was him and Bruce Lee that boys thought were toughest people around

[@edlonghorn1507]

That's what I'm talkin about bro nothing like the seventies and Evel Knievel he rocked it

[@EarthSurferUSA]

A parachute? Gotta love the good old days. I miss the USA.

[@khris6690]

I feel ya.....I know exactly you what you me as n

[@andew8922]

He did it at a time with some of the best announcers in the business fearless and did what he said he would

[@BitwiseMobile]

I lived in Jerome Id when I was a kid in the early 80s. I knew about Evel Knievel, of course, since he was still a large part of the American Zeitgeist. I probably had a few action figures and one of those toys where you slapped the top and the motorcycle would take off. Anyway, I didn't know about the Snake River jump, since it happened when I was an infant. We would drive to Twin Falls to go to the mall, since Jerome was a very small town. I noticed the signs on the bridge and we stopped and took pictures, like tourists. I subsequently learned about that jump and the result.

[@darrinrentruc6614]

Like Mel Gibson, Evil knievels character was attacked by some unscrupulous people in the media, and Knievel fought back and won [just like Mel Gibson]. He will always be America's number one Daredevil, Nobody has ever came close to taking that title away from him.

[@surfshack2]

Yep he was No.1....everybody else was a copy cat. Those were the days. Memories!

[@JohnWilliams-sq7cj]

Facts, Evel was great!

[@djtennessee9016]

How many of this man's critics have attempted to jump a canyon?

[@janetphillips2875]

Elvis and Evel were for real! While one was anentertainer and the other, a daredevil, but they were for real. Then just a few miles east of Elvis, he had a friend, Buford Pusser ( Puh-sir)), who was a no-nonsense badass Sheriff. But we lost him in 1974, when his Corvette crashed and burned just hours after he had signed another movie contract. Burt Reynolds was so jealous of Buford, and I read from Dwana Pusser's book that's why Gleason's character was named Buford in Smokey and the Bandit.

[@arnenelson4495]

Us kids jumped our trailbikes over everything we could find, even each other due to Evel's influence. Fun stuff!

[@robertjohns1675]

Wide world of sports was great from the theme song to the different sports

[@michaelszczys8316]

Between Evel needing more notoriety and Wide World of Sports looking for more to air they made Motorcycle Jumping into an official sport.

[@michaelszczys8316]

There was Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Evel Knievel. He was in their league. Big and flashy

[@harleyrider9640]

I remember jumping my crappy bicycle over picnic tables after watching evel..my old neighbor Mr.Clark used to laugh his ass off on my Wipeouts

[@sodapopinski690]

Robert Craig Knievel and Frank Gifford, 2 of the most charming and handsome men to ever walk the face of the earth.

[@swami1]

3:22 "I'm glad you're here today, I've never had an accident when you're around." Oh, well...

[@kennethlippertshauser3376]

Evil you are the man you always will be. Thanks for everything Big Brother love you.

[@jbarnhart2653]

Haven't watched this since it was live, so I didn't remember... 45:12 "I haven't had an accident when you're around..." I thought "jinx" and sure enough...even Gowdy seems to flinch...

[@jerryhenson3235]

He Started it. Was then. An still the Best ever.. Think for EVERYTHING.

[@Praetor_Fenix420]

Evel Knievel RULES!

[@JoeBilello1969]

This was one of the biggest memories of my childhood, i had all the toys and played with them for hours. I'm 54 now and a few of the older kids had them too and as they got older i wound up with some of their stuff, so i had a load of Kenevil toys. Lets see, i had a couple of the bikes, the red truck, the sky cycle, the dragster, then i spent hours practicing wheelies on my bicycle and busted myself up jumping milk crates. It was such a shame, because he actually cleared the canyon but the chute opened too soon and that wind blew him into the canyon. Now as an adult, as soon as i heard his name the first thing i thought of was how Frank Gifford was screwing Johnny Carson's wife at this time 😂😅😊

[@Chrially2931]

Evel talking about jumping with Howard Cosell on the handlebars, Howard Cosell emphatically, “There’s no way!

[@andisadler2897]

Evil didnt really jump the 11 mack trucks. The ramp was in front of the trucks if you looked closely. Not over them.

[@HODIUSDUDE]

Timestamp? Never really looked that closely.

[@Buddycoop1]

The hoods of the trucks were there though. The cabs are on the left of the ramp.

[@andisadler2897]

@@Buddycoop1 Exactly so he didnt jump the trucks then did he? He jumped alongside trucks it should have said./

[@kitswithkaren5003]

A great American icon on the same level as Ali and Elvis.🐒🐻🤗👍

[@angelopetrozzi44]

RIP Evel The best ever!!

[@scottwright388]

He said if you do what I did, you'd be shaking too....as kids back then, we busted our bicycles trying to be just a little like evil.

[@rodbrezinski8033]

My hero

[@Johnny2Bags47]

I wanna know who the lame people are that gave Evel Knievel a 👎's down. . I think the people that disliked this video deserves a 👊 punch to the face

[@gregosterholt394]

Howard Kosel omg what a great time in life, heck with computers these days were so real

[@SwineBrothers]

Found this randomly when it aired, I was 5. The name Evel Knievel seemed to be everywhere, but I had no idea who he was until I watched this. Guy was a first-class asshole, but he put his life on the line.

[@Rob-eo5ql]

I had the Evel Knievel toy funny car. It was badass.

[@dingdong4945]

Iam surprised that the bike went that fast due too the size of his balls

[@mike300406]

smaller sprocket on the back or bigger on the front might of helped

[@genegeneish]

We used to build ramps and jump our bicycles. When Evel made a plug for Harley Davidson ( on wwos) he pointed to the number 1 on his shoulder and said something like " I wear this harley #1 because them, like i, are number 1. THAT SEALED IT. I PUT A HARLEY 1 PATCH ON MY JACKET AND I STILL PUT THEM ON MY CADDYS. RIP BUDDY.

[@jmmonroe9670]

We all know that the canyon jump was never meant to succeed. He pulled that chute because it was planned.

[@mercoid]

I’ve given that a lot of thought. I believe you’re right. But still….., it took incredible nerve to get in that thing and blast off. You could hear it in his voice in the pre-launch interview. Regardless of what the plan was, he was terrified he wasn’t going to live or would be severely injured. But yes…. The fact that this “SkyCycle” had no landing gear and was aimed to land on rough terrain on the other side of the canyon was ridiculous. If he did make it across, he’d have never survived the landing.

[@telefunkenyou47]

This was when America was great!

[@rolfdejonge3915]

Great! Thanks! @~`

[@HODIUSDUDE]

You're welcome. If you liked this, there is a full version of Last of the Gladiators elsewhere on YT, its worth a look if you have not seen it.

[@williamdelong8265]

Yea not the best hero but he was it. Broke my back jumping dirt bikes because I loved it. Crazy sob. Nobody ever like him before or after. Rip Bobby.

[@MegaSdavidson]

The last of the real U.S.A bad asses!!!

[@kenedie4646]

Evel, I meant. Damn phone correct. I have read a few comments, and there are a lot of Knievel fans out there!!

[@davewanamaker3690]

I wish he could have made the Snake River Canyon jump. I still think it was great spectacle. It was inspiration from Wiley Coyote. I think he could have made it on a second try. Whatever happened to the skycycle rocket? Hope it was saved somewhere.

[@MrDoneboy]

And the parachute was out during the ascent of the vehicle...Highly suspect of a fraud!

[@jorgecallico9177]

Howard Cosell's public refusal to join Knievel on a jump has some humor to it. On the one hand it's absolutely absurd to think that, as a passenger Cosell could safely mount a motorcycle driven Knievel and survive a jump. However on the other hand Knievel had previously survived a great number of absurd, death defying jumps. As such? Cosell took his offer seriously. The thing that made Knievel outstanding was that even in the face of poor odds he STILL decided to jump. This took a certain faith and honesty uncommon in the world. Similarly today I hear a tone in the voice of other risk takers that sounds much like Knievel. Killer Bee pest removal expert Reed Booth for starters. Sounds just like Knievel at times. His job risking his life daily.

[@playedout148]

Street bikes. Wth. Watch these jumps. They didn't give a 💩 about safety. Cars were parked in the landing area. 😂

[@eltonspurlock]

Saw him in the ASTRODOME

[@Rico-ow3ys]

He got some sense knocked into him.

[@SpikeVrusho]

I wrote the script for this show.