Brian Deegan (born May 9, 1974)"Brian Deegan." Notable Sports Figures. Ed. Dana R. Barnes. Detroit:

Gale A gale is a strong wind; the word is typically used as a descriptor in nautical contexts. The U.S. National Weather Service defines a gale as sustained surface wind moving at a speed between .

, 2004. Gale Biography In Context. Web. August 6, 2012. is an American professional

freestyle motocross Freestyle motocross (also known as FMX) is a variation on the sport of motocross in which motorcycle riders attempt to impress judges with jumps and stunts. The two main types of freestyle events are: *Big air (also known as "best trick"), in wh ...

rider and racing driver. Deegan was the first to land a 360 in a freestyle motocross competition. With a total of 16

X Games The X Games are a series of action sports events founded by ESPN Inc. and aired on ESPN networks and ABC. In late 2022, ESPN sold the long-running property to MSP Sports Capital, a private equity firm co-founded by Jahm Najafi and Jeff Mo ...

medals across multiple disciplines, he is one of the most decorated athletes in X Games history, with 12 in motocross and 4 in rally car racing. A co-founder of the Metal Mulisha clothing line, Deegan is one of the most recognizable names in action sports. In the 2010s, Deegan transitioned to

rallycross Rallycross is a form of sprint style motorsport held on a mixed-surface circuit (racing), racing circuit using modified production touring automobile, cars or prototype racing cars. It began in the 1960s as a cross between rallying and autocross ...

in the

Global Rallycross Championship Global Rallycross (known as Red Bull Global Rallycross for sponsorship reasons) was a rallycross series operated by businessmen Colin Dyne in conjunction with Sponsor RedBull. The series ran for seven seasons, primarily in North America, from 201 ...

and off-road trucks in the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Championship series. In 2010, Deegan earned double silver in Rally Car Racing and RallyCross. In 2011, he took RallyCross gold and came back to earn bronze in 2012.

Racing career

Brian Deegan jumping at X Games 17 in Los Angeles

Deegan became a professional supercross rider with Team Moto XXX at age 17. In 1997 at the

Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (also known as the Los Angeles Coliseum or L.A. Coliseum) is a multi-purpose stadium in the Exposition Park, Los Angeles, Exposition Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. Conceived as a hal ...

, Deegan won the 125cc main and ghost rode his bike across the finish line. In 2004, at the Winter X Games, Deegan crashed while attempting a twisting backflip 360 over a jump, landing on hard-packed snow and ice and breaking his femur and both wrists. He returned 6 months later to place fourth at the 2004 Summer X Games. Switching to four wheels in 2009, Deegan ventured into short course off-road racing in the

Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series The Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series, also known as LOORRS, was a short course off-road racing series in the United States and Mexico. Following the bankruptcy of the CORR series in 2008, Lucas Oil founded LOORRS in 2009, featuring racing events ...

' Unlimited Lites division. He ultimately won the championship over more experienced off-road drivers. At the 2010 X Games, Deegan competed in the Rally Car event at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. He finished second behind

Tanner Foust Tanner Lee Foust (born June 13, 1973) is an American professional racing driver, stunt driver, and television host. He competes in rally, drift, ice racing, time attack, hill climb and rallycross with multiple podium placements, national cham ...

after making a wrong turn during the race. He also competed in Rally Car Super Rally, again finishing second behind Tanner Foust. At X Games XVII, Deegan won gold in RallyCross. In 2011, he won the World Championship race at

Crandon International Off-Road Raceway The Crandon International Off-Road Raceway is a short course off-road racing racetrack, located near Crandon, Wisconsin, United States on U.S. Route 8. The course hosts the World Championship Off-Road Races, Red Bull World Cup, Forest County Po ...

in the

Traxxas TORC Series TORC: The Off-Road Championship (TORC) was an American short course off-road racing series. It tours throughout the United States featuring professional four and two-wheel-drive Trophy Trucks along with a Pro Light class. TORC was founded by off-r ...

. He also won the Pro Lite Unlimited and Pro 2 class championships in the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series. In addition, he represented the United States with teammate

Travis Pastrana Travis Alan Pastrana (born October 8, 1983) is an American professional athlete known for his success across multiple disciplines, including freestyle motocross, rally racing, NASCAR, and stunt performance. He rose to prominence in the early 2000s ...

in the Race of Champions (ROC) competition held at the Esprit Arena in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. In 2012, he debuted the Metal Mulisha

Monster truck A monster truck is a specialized off-road vehicle with a heavy duty suspension, four-wheel steering, large-displacement V8 engines and oversized tires constructed for competition and entertainment uses. Originally created by modifying stock p ...

. Todd LeDuc officially debuted it at Reliant Stadium in

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

in January 2012. Deegan drove the truck at

Chase Field Chase Field, formerly Bank One Ballpark, is a retractable roof, retractable-roof stadium in downtown Phoenix, Arizona. It is the ballpark of Major League Baseball's Arizona Diamondbacks. It opened in 1998 Arizona Diamondbacks season, 1998, the ...

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

. Deegan also won his second championship in the Pro 2 class of the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series. Deegan raced an OlsbergsMSE

Ford Fiesta The Ford Fiesta is a supermini car that was marketed by Ford from 1976 to 2023 over seven generations. Over the years, the Fiesta has mainly been developed and manufactured by Ford's European operations, and had been positioned below the ...

in the

Global RallyCross Championship Global Rallycross (known as Red Bull Global Rallycross for sponsorship reasons) was a rallycross series operated by businessmen Colin Dyne in conjunction with Sponsor RedBull. The series ran for seven seasons, primarily in North America, from 201 ...

, earning runner-up in 2012, fourth in 2013 and 12th in 2014. He also continued his Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series career, winning the Pro Light Unlimited championship in 2013 and the Pro 2 championship in 2014. In 2015, Deegan was hired by

Chip Ganassi Racing Chip Ganassi Racing, LLC (CGR), also sometimes branded as Chip Ganassi Racing Teams, is an American auto racing organization competing in the NTT IndyCar Series. They have formerly competed in the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series, Global Rally ...

to compete in seven Global Rallycross Championship races in an M-Sport Fiesta along with former professional motocross rider Jeff Ward.

Media appearances

During a 2005 taping of

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

's ''

Viva La Bam ''Viva La Bam'' is an American reality television series that stars Bam Margera and his friends and family. The show is a spin-off from MTV's '' Jackass'', in which Margera and most of the main cast appeared. Each episode had a specific theme, ...

'', Deegan under-rotated a backflip and suffered a strong impact from the handle bars in his midsection, almost losing his life. He lost a

kidney In humans, the kidneys are two reddish-brown bean-shaped blood-filtering organ (anatomy), organs that are a multilobar, multipapillary form of mammalian kidneys, usually without signs of external lobulation. They are located on the left and rig ...

, lacerated his

spleen The spleen (, from Ancient Greek '' σπλήν'', splḗn) is an organ (biology), organ found in almost all vertebrates. Similar in structure to a large lymph node, it acts primarily as a blood filter. The spleen plays important roles in reg ...

, and lost a significant amount of blood. He now has a long scar down his stomach, that he calls his "zipper", spanning almost his entire abdomen, as a result of the accident. While the accident was cut out of the show,

Bam Margera Brandon Cole "Bam" Margera ( ; born September 28, 1979) is an American former professional skateboarder, stunt performer, television personality, and filmmaker. He rose to prominence in the early 2000s as one of the stars of the MTV Reality tel ...

dedicated the episode to Brian. In 2006, Deegan and Berkela films released a film entitled ''Disposable Hero'' that follows him through the struggles and rewards that accompany the freestyle motocross sport and lifestyle.

Jesse James Jesse Woodson James (September 5, 1847April 3, 1882) was an American outlaw, Bank robbery, bank and Train robbery, train robber, guerrilla and leader of the James–Younger Gang. Raised in the "Little Dixie (Missouri), Little Dixie" area of M ...

, Ronnie Faisst,

Jeremy Stenberg Jeremy "Twitch" Stenberg (born September 27, 1981) is an American professional freestyle motocross rider and professional off-road truck racer. Stenberg received his nickname "Twitch" from his Tourette's syndrome, which he was diagnosed with ...

, Cameron Steele, Chris Ackerman, Nate Adams, and Seth Enslow are a few of the featured cast that talk about Deegan and his life's journeys. The film aired on

Spike TV Paramount Network is an American basic cable television channel and the flagship property of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global, who operates it through the MTV Entertainment Group. The network's headquarters are locate ...

on December 5, 2007. Deegan performed stunts in the movie ''

Fantastic Four The Fantastic Four, often abbreviated as FF, is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team debuted in '' The Fantastic Four'' #1 ( cover-dated November 1961), helping usher in a new level of realism i ...

''. He has been on the cover of ''Transworld MX'' and ''Racer X'' magazines and has been featured multiple times in '' FHM'' magazine. Deegan is in the video game ''

Freekstyle ''Freekstyle'' is a 2002 motocross racing video game for the PlayStation 2, GameCube and Game Boy Advance. There are four levels of gameplay: the circuit, a quick race, freestyle, and free run. The game features an assortment of real-life Freest ...

'' for

Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, and to international markets that June. It was later released in mainland China in 2004, under the name iQue Game Boy Advanc ...

GameCube The is a PowerPC-based home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on September 14, 2001, in North America on November 18, 2001, in Europe on May 3, 2002, and in Australia on May 17, 2002. It is the suc ...

, and

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...

. He also appears in the 2000 game ''

Supercross The AMA Supercross Championship (commercially known as Monster Energy AMA Supercross) is an American motorcycle racing series. Founded by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) in 1974, the AMA Supercross Championship races are held from ...

'' for the

PlayStation is a video gaming brand owned and produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), a division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. Its flagship products consists of a series of home video game consoles produced under the brand; it also consists ...

. In 2018, Deegan was the subject of the documentary ''Blood Line: The Life and Times of Brian Deegan''.

Other ventures

In addition to supporting riders, the Metal Mulisha has a clothing line and other related merchandise. Deegan also has a toy line called Heavy Hitters distributed in retail locations such as

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 23 other ...

. Most recently he teamed up with Illektron to create Battlez FMX, a collectible card and dice game featuring Deegan, Todd Potter and Jeremy Lusk. He is the former owner of the FMX park, the Compound, which he later sold to Nate Adams. At the 2007 X Games, Deegan stated that he sometimes regrets selling it.

Personal life

He has been married to Marissa Deegan since 2003. Together, they have three children: Hailie, who currently competes full-time in the

NASCAR Xfinity Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level NASCAR Cup Series, Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a Undercard, support ...

driving for AM Racing; Haiden, who was recently signed to Monster Energy Star Yamaha Racing as an amateur/pro rider; and Hudson, who competes in youth motocross. Deegan became a

born-again Christian To be born again, or to experience the new birth, is a phrase, particularly in evangelical Christianity, that refers to a "spiritual rebirth", or a regeneration of the human spirit. In contrast to one's physical birth, being "born again" is d ...

after a near-fatal crash in 2005.

X Games competition history

Gravity Games

Career highlights

* 1997 Los Angeles Supercross 125cc – 1st place * 1999 World Freestyle Champ * 2000 Air MX Champ * 2000 Bluetorch Ride and Slide FMX Champ * At the 2002 Winter X Games, Deegan pulled off the Mandatory Suicide (Super Can to Side Saddle Lander), its named after his favorite band

Slayer Slayer is an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California, formed in 1981 by guitarists Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King, drummer Dave Lombardo and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style made them ...

and wins his first ever Winter X Games Gold medal. * 2003 Featured Rider on Tony Hawk tour * 2003 EXPN Rider of the year nominee * First to land a 360 in an FMX competition * 2004 ESPY award nominee * At the 2004 Winter X Games, Deegan tried to pull off the 360 over the 90-foot ice gap, but broke both of his

wrists In human anatomy, the wrist is variously defined as (1) the carpus or carpal bones, the complex of eight bones forming the proximal skeletal segment of the hand; "The wrist contains eight bones, roughly aligned in two rows, known as the carpal ...

, he has 7 screws and 1 steel plate in his left

femur The femur (; : femurs or femora ), or thigh bone is the only long bone, bone in the thigh — the region of the lower limb between the hip and the knee. In many quadrupeds, four-legged animals the femur is the upper bone of the hindleg. The Femo ...

and blacked out from the pain. * Holds the 2nd most medals in FMX X Games history: 12 medals * 2004 ESPN top 100 athlete of all sports * 2007 Winner Best Biography X Dance Action Sports Film Festival for Brian Deegan: Disposable Hero * 2009 Awarded The Lifetime Achievement Award At The Transworld Motocross Awards In Las Vegas. * 1 gold and 5 medals at the X Games rally events. * 2nd at the 2012 Global RallyCross Championship. * 4th at the 2013 Global RallyCross Championship. * 2009, 2011 and 2013

Pro Lite Unlimited champion * 2011, 2012 and 2014 Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series Pro 2 Unlimited champion * 2011 World Championship race winner in the Pro Light truck class * 2022 Summit Racing Freedom 500 race winner at the Freedom Factory

Racing record

Complete Global RallyCross Championship results

Supercar

Race cancelled.

References

External links

Brian Deegan official website

Metal Mulisha website

''Disposable Hero'' website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Deegan, Brian 1974 births Living people American motocross riders X Games competitors Freestyle motocross riders Global RallyCross Championship drivers American Christians FIA European Rallycross Championship drivers Chip Ganassi Racing drivers Dreyer & Reinbold Racing drivers