Rodney Mullen – Passionate Skateboarder

 

I was 14 years old, the year was 1986 and skateboarding was my life.  I had all the skateboarding gear and accessories, board, trucks, wheels, rail, tail and nose guards.  I even had that stupid thing called ”The Bird” which helped your trucks get up on curbs. 

I had a passion for skateboarding everyday and I was inspired by any footage I could get my hands on.  Long before the days of YouTube you had to stay up until 2am to see it on ESPN or if they did a five minute spot on MTV about the sport you were lucky if it replayed after some friend told you about it.   

During the mid to late 80’s Rodney Mullen was the freestyle skateboarding king. I know this because I watched my VHS copy of “Oceanside Street Attack” until the tape got wrinkled and eventually broke. It was a one hour tape, but I got 500+ hours out of it. (clip below)

Standing on my wheels and trucks time after time, again and again, but never, ever able to emulate what Rodney does sometimes just as warm up.  Those were my days of trying to become a better skateboarder.  I clearly lacked something that Rodney has showed us all…an undying passion for the sport.

In another skate video Rodney’s opening scene shows him holding a sign that says, “What do I have to say?”  …”Nothing”… and then he holds his hand up to the camera with the word “except” written on it.  The camera pans back to see him open arms and the slogan showing, ”I love skateboarding!” printed on it.  More importantly, what most people miss, is the expression on his face…he absolutely loves skateboarding and it shows!

Rodney is clearly passionate about skateboarding.  He always was and always will be.  When you watch him skate you are easily awed by his technical skill…if you look closer and watch his face, his body language, his eyes, his smiles…you can see that skateboarding is 100% who he is.  It is the core of his being.

The video at the top of this page has received over 6 million views.  Inspiration comes in many ways.  I am sure when he was skating in front of spectators in Oceanside, Ca in 1986 (video below) that he had no idea or any thoughts of the millions he would inspire today.

I have no idea how much money Rodney makes from his contracts or sponsors, but I am willing to bet that none of that matters to Rodney.  I am sure that it is all about the deck, the trucks, the wheels, the environment in which he skates and the state of bliss he feels when he skates. 

The act of inspiring people can come unsuspecting and in mediums that are not as traditional as most of us understand.  I seek to find these individuals, mediums and inspirations.  Rodney Mullen is just the first of many that will hit this site.

Thank you Rodney for inspiring my whole day just from that one video.  Thank you for all the days you inspired me as young skater. If you are ever interested in talking more about your passion to skate then drop us an email…I am sure there are many kids and adults that would love to hear your story first hand.  I would love to provide that to them.

Kenyon Salo – Passion Before Paycheck

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