I don’t know how to get this lump out of my chest and this sickening feeling in my gut, but I hope to lessen it by praising one of the greatest men I’ve ever known.
Ryan Dunn was the coolest soul that could back up anything thrown in front of him, which is saying a lot hanging around Jeff, Knoxville and Bam, to mention a few. I mean, come on, Ryan could stick a car up his ass with more class then a dos equis beer commercial.
When I first met Ryan I was stoked to hear he rode. Further investigation I noticed he “Rode”, but never away… When we were shooting the Snake River Redemption I knew it was designed for utter failure, but you would never know by the heroism glowing out of Ryan. I was just a part of the peanut gallery and was way more nervous then he. I couldn’t even get a funny thought out of my mind because I was staged to watch my friend mangle himself and Ryan was way too proud to do it! Jeff, thanks for taking the landing ramp away. We all new that wasn’t needed… The funny thing is, under Ryan’s state of mind, it was a total liability. This wasn’t about pulling it… This was about setting the record for the greatest crash! Ah ha! Committed to the success of failure! Ryan was the master. If he had to bleed for it that was just a lil extra gift for you and he would do it with “Looney Toon” courage. Ryan was the master at taking his sarcasm headfirst and doing it with a one of a kind elegance.
At times like these I find myself devastated and pissed off what was taken from me, but that is a really selfish way to look at it. I drill myself that the only thing I can control is the memory I have when I think of the loss. I’m in the process of replacing this feeling of devastation and tragedy to memories of all the amazing times Ryan gave us. We are all so lucky because of Ryan. If it weren’t for Ryan I would never know this elevated state of cool, calm and collectiveness in the midst of complete archaic ridiculousness. There will never be another Ryan Dunn and we are all so lucky he gave us so much. This mold was broken. Ryan, you are a cool I will always strive for forever. You will always be remembered buddy.
Ryan Dunn you will always be my HERO.
LOVE,
-Mat Hoffman
