Man of Steel: Montana Icon Had Real Hardware in His Spine

Evel Knievel didn't have a casual date with DANGER. He took it to dinner, married it, and then all but leaped over it on a rocket-powered motorcycle.

We all know the Butte-born daredevil was one of the baddest Montanans to ever walk the earth (or soar over it), but here is a very cool little bit of You-might-not-have-known-this-about-Evel trivia. After blasting his body across school buses, Vegas fountains, and the Snake River, Evel was left with enough stainless steel down his back to fill an entire Erector set. Literal hardware. Nuts, bolts, plates, screws. He was a walking toolbox when all was said and done.

A photo of one of the spinal fusion rods that had been inside his back just popped up recently on social media. And yeah, it almost looks like something you’d tear off a piece of heavy equipment. That thing wasn’t small. It was legit. Evel needed the major spinal fusion surgery decades after he broke himself again and again and again and again and again in the name of stunts and glory.

And here’s a wild Montana connection for you. Our friend Chris Wolfe (Z100) had a grandpa who was Evel Knievel’s anesthesiologist. That’s right. The one who made sure Evel stayed unconscious as doctors screwed him back together. Can you imagine the pressure? “Hey doc, you’re the guy that’s going to put Evel Knievel to sleep... and make sure he wakes up too.” Meanwhile, I nearly fainted getting a flu shot last Fall.

They sure don’t make ‘em like Evel Knievel anymore. Dude was put together with steel, sewn up like a baseball, and wouldn’t quit. How is that for Montana grit?