Now playing: Evel Knievel and Captain Robbie Knievel

What warms a father’s heart most? When his beloved son loves risking his life to show off for crowds every bit as much as Dad always did. In 1968, Evel Knievel suffered a motorcycle crash of world-class gruesomeness while attempting to jump over the fountains at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. After smashing his head into the concrete, Evel proceeded to roll head over heels again and again, until his apparently unconscious body was little more than a bag of bones tumbling at high speed. All told, he broke half the bones in his body.

Twenty-one years later, demonstrating the timeless male tendency to learn absolutely nothing from one’s most formative experiences, Evel was back in the spotlight at Caesars, publicly congratulating his offspring, Robbie Knievel, for giving the hazardous jump another shot.

“I am not the greatest daredevil in the world,” the proud papa declared to an adoring crowd just before Robbie’s attempt. “I am the father of the greatest daredevil in the world.”

This video was featured in: Daddy Was a Daredevil

Related posts on 30ninjas.com:

• Evel Knievel 14-Car Jump
• The Wonderful World of Alain Prieur
• Daddy Was a Daredevil: Top 5 Father-Son Action Duos
• Indiana “Junior” Jones and Prof. Henry Jones
• See No Evel: Will Anyone Jump Snake River?
• “I Am Your Father”