If you?re one of the 2,000 people that used the Chipotle app to order the new Tony Hawk burrito and grab a code for the Tony Hawk?s Pro Skater 1 & 2 Warehouse Demo (alternatively, you can just preorder the game) then you might notice a small but powerful change in the upcoming skateboarding game. In the Tony Hawks? Pro Skater 1 and 2 Warehouse Demo, and subsequently in the full release, the formerly named ?mute grab? air trick has gotten a rename to the ?Weddle Grab,? named after trick originator and ?80s Tony Hawk skating peer, deaf skateboarder Chris Weddle. The Birdman himself took to Instagram today to explain the origins of the move, why the original name was the one that stuck, and how he wants to use the opportunity to help repair the representation of deaf skaters in the real and digital world.
 

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For nearly 40 years, we?ve shamelessly referred to this trick as the ?mute? air/grab. Here is the backstory: around 1981, a deaf skater and Colton skatepark local named Chris Weddle was a prominent amateur on the competition circuit. The ?Indy? air had just been created & named so somebody proposed that grabbing with the front hand should be known as the ?Tracker? air. Others countered that Chris was the first to do, so it should be named after him. They referred to him as the ?quiet, mute guy.? So it became known as the mute air, and we all went along with it in our naive youth. In recent years a few pe...