Freestyle died because everyone knew who was gonna win

Its like one human being responsible for teaching everyone else how to walk.

Rodney Mullen has always been The GOAT of all times. THE SAVANT OF SKATEBOARDING!🙏

Rodney Mullen is the Mozart of skateboarding. Child prodigy genius gifted above his peers for decades. The grand master of grandmasters.

So I know Mullen invented countless tricks and helped revolutionize skateboarding, but now you're telling me he created the modern board shape design as well? Dude is the godfather of skateboarding and seems like a great guy.

"no I don't want to become a street skater!" -at least try it please becomes the best street skater the world has ever seen

People: Tony Hawk is the GOAT! Tony Hawk: I just did the tricks that I saw Rodney invent.

Me - “Yo Rodney, how many tricks can you do?” Rodney - “Yes”

Tony Hawk: God father of vert Rodney Mullen: God father of street

His way of talking is so humble, gentle and kind. I love that about him

The crazy thing about his first contest was, that he invented new tricks for this contest because he thought that this is what all the other skaters do as well tryin to win. And then there was the contest and he was basically the only one who came up with new stuff. That's why he won. Genius.

Every time I think about Rodney I'm so glad that we have all this footage of what he did in the early days. He directly influenced so much of what we see skaters do today.

Greatest skateboarder of all time, without contest.

The term "one of a kind" is overused. Rodney Mullen, however, is TRULY one of a kind. What a unique skater.

I respect all skate people but Mullen should never be forgotten.

Nas once said "learn EVERYTHING THERE IS TO LEARN about the art, and then forget everything about it, and innovate." Rodney is the living definition of that phrase.

His voice is like a steam of warm butter. When I was a kid I looked up to Rodney Mullen because of his moves, now as an adult I look up to his mindset and dedication to his craft and life.

Rodney mullen is the Bob Ross of skateboarding Sweet hair Soft yet defining voice Innovative And cool

What kind of a dad can witness that much talent in their kids and do everything in their power to get them to stop? Blows my mind.

Rodney is singlehandedly responsible for getting SOOOO many kids kicked out of parks, closed schools, empty courthouse grounds, parking garages.... We appreciate your inspiration, Rodney.

I remember the first Tony Hawk game where they had videos of the pros. I unlocked Rodney's videos and it blew my mind. I was so confused why everyone like Hawk more then him. He was better than everyone in the videos. Dude's a legend.

THEY SHOULD MAKE A MOVIE ABOUT THIS DUDE, ALREADY.

Skating was all I had when my mom died. Rodney is and always will be my hero. I literally wanted to get good enough just to show him. He definitely gave me something to live for inadvertently.

Rodney is the godfather of modern skating. He's the perfect person for the position too. Kind, intelligent, and highly skilled.

I used to watch this documentary all the time when I was a kid eating pop tarts. Now I'm in college watching it still eating pop tarts.

Some of the tricks he does don't even look physically possible, even though i'm watching them happen

Tony is the iconic Pro Skater, cameras fawning while he's flying high. Rodney, nevertheless, is THE Pro Skater animated model: unreal, yet flawless, addictive, a living fever dream who brings us all together.

Rodney Mullen is the soul and brain of modern skateboarding ❤

Rodney was the main reason I got into skating. I hate the fact that all modern skaters hate Mullen for his style. I had skater friends that hated Mullen and I was like "how do you hate someone who created the tricks you're good at or revolutionized skating to what it is today?" This guy created the flat ground ollie, many modern tricks, and the modern board. At least these skaters should show some respect. Mullen is my idol

This guy is the einstein of skateboarding.

i remember being a 9 year old kid in the 90s watching rodney vs daewon and thinking it was the best ever... years later and it still is one of the best skate videos of all time.

man, I had chills all over my body when watching this. lovely documentary, Rodney is a genius.

I wish they had talked about that moment his father finally realized that it was a successful thing to pursue.

Activision releases Tony Hawks pro skater Rodney: where's the other half of the tricks I told you were possible and showed you?

And this is why I was always Mullen in Tony Hawk skateboarding games.

When this man passes away... You better send him off with a 1000 Gun salute and build a museum about him, and preserve his body like that of the Egyptian pharaohs!! And all skaters of the world all do a darkslide all day long!

His creativity, his precision is undeniable. Even his name “Rodney Mullen” just sounds like a legend. The universe gave birth to a legend until the end of time.

The Dark slide is still one of the best tricks I've ever seen to this day.

rodney's explanation of focus on one thing, put the rest on auto pilot is what happens when you advance super far in the martial arts. this is how we dissect things in the martial method. cut it all down into chunks, perfect each chunk, destroy the opposition. rodney was just the first person to bring the method to skating. still my all time fav skater. rodney is the goat.

Dude is still ahead of it's time in 2022

I think its pretty easy to say he is the best of all time.

This guy right here is the GOAT of street skateboarding. I remember watching some of these clips on the old Tony Hawk games in the 90s and I was blown away back then and I still am today. He will always be remembered as the greatest of all time.

It's not only that his tricks are insane, but he seems to float effortlessly through the air, which sets him apart from a lot of the other greats. Even many of the best street skaters still aren't nearly as smooth.

I am 44 and still skate regularly,Rodney is a big reason I always strive to get better.He was and is my biggest influence in skating and made street skating what it is today.

So in order to influence my kid to become succesfull, disencourage, ignore and dismiss the kids passion as much as possible, got it!

There are two types of people in this world. 1. People who wish they were Rodney Mullen. 2. Rodney Mullen.

As a late 80's kid, who was there for at the dawn of the Tony Hawk games that REALLY blew skateboarding up all over the world, I don't think there was a single kid I knew who would've named anyone other than Mullen as their favorite skateboarder. Obviously we drew inspiration and style from everything in those games, but Mullen was the guy everyone talked about. He was it, head and shoulders above everyone else. A true, unmatched legend. And seemingly a great guy to boot.

Crazy that we were able to witness a true skateboard prodigy. He literally mastered the art of skateboarding.

Fall 2019 and he still has the best dark slides.

Rodney's father almost ruined it all

Holy shit I always knew Mullen was the absolute king, but I had noooo idea he came up with so many of the fundamentals of street skating 🤯

Watching some of these skateboard videos I'm getting a huge wave of nostalgia. I used to watch all these videos back in the late 90s. I remember trying so hard to learn how to ollie and then one day finally getting it. It was so awesome

"He does things no one was thinking of at the time" *cuts to clip of ollie north WRAP AROUND* NO ONE DOES THAT EVEN TODAY

Rodney is one of the few people on earth that when I watch him speak or skate, I feel incredibly uplifted and moved. I smile because I truly tell myself, my mind and my body that i want to learn from him. He's the best teacher anyone could ask for. #shoutout to the GOAT Rodney Mullen for teaching me how to casper flip when I was only 12.

GOAT,not even debatable.

It’s 2020 and his shit is beyond incredible and so technical it’s insanely

When Rodney enters a contest, he takes first, second, and third.

I think daewon song is one of the most underappreciated skateboarders of all time..

Listening to Rodney talk brings quite a bit of emotion... im vehclempt over here!

i was 13 when i watched Rodney in 1995, had an ateam deck and was just blown away. thanks rodney, u are a hero, to so many people, whatever your dad thinks dude ;)

Not only was he a great skater, he was really down to earth and noble. I met him once in the late 80s at the Lakewood Mall in So Cal. He happened to be there when I went to buy my first Swatch. He was so friendly and attentive to all of his fans. Good dude

i only hope Rodneys farther realizes what an amazing person Rodney is.....

It gives me chills to think about Rodney Mullen... Imagine being the VERY BEST at something... Not just at one point in time, rather throughout time. Something about that level of exacting excellence demands respect... Who could not respect that?

No one will ever be able to control a skateboard with such mastery as Rodney Mullen

I love it, “I just focus and you get good really fast” words a goat says

Most incredible skater of all time.

Damn .. I was at a party hanging out with this guy in Baltimore. They told me he was a skater but I didn't know he was famous... he was pretty cool. Humble.

I'm almost 40 and I'm still watching this and getting amped!

This got me back on my board!…26, married, just bought our first house, feeling stiff and now sore..but hey I just learned the casperflip! skating is just unadulterated fun. No need for drugs or anything. I started skating as a young teen, rebelling against society, and now its helping me grown as an adult. To me skateboarding is a time in my life when the whole world was in the palm of your hand. I wouldn't mind just going back to that time even if it was for a few hours. Cheers to you fellas, skateboarding and life!

Rodney Mullen was the greatest street skater that ever skated this planet. Even Tony Hawk said it before... the man was a straight out master of his craft...

One of my favorite parts of this story is how his dad didn't want to become a skateboarder in multiple points of his life. Saw no future in it. Then he goes out, creates the future, pioneers the sport, revolutionizes the actual manufacturing of skateboards, and is literally the one of the sole drivers of the entire lifestyle. I love to skateboard, but Rodney was born to do what he did.

As the GOAT of skateboarding. It is just as entertaining to hear him speak as it is to watch him skateboard.

I grew up with this shit , always was and will be my favorite skater, still today 25 years later i keep talking about the videos he was in.

Dr Mullen brings us skateboarding

Its mad that 40+ years later still no one comes close to him. Talk about being ahead of your time. Man

I remember playing the Tony Hawk games and being like yeah this game is fun, but these tricks are so unrealistic no one could actually do this. Then watching Rodney Mullen videos of him actually doing the tricks and my jaw just dropping.

there will never be a 'next' rodney mullen. there is never going to be another person to fill those shoes. I feel so lucky that we (skateboarding) got him, and not something else. granted, he'd have revolutionized whatever that would have been too, but he chose to skate, and none of us could ever thank him enough.

Best skater ever. Period.

This man cannot be human, he is a inter dimensional being sent to us from another time to show us the way of the BOARD. Thank you sir for your teachings.

I really hope his old man appreciates what he became he is one of a kind and like no other human on a skateboard

Sad my skater days are over but so happy they happened. Im glad i lived atleast the end of the golden street skating days 1994-2011.

Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1/2 remaster brought me here. This man is a legend.

Nothing blew my mind more than him saying how permanent a memory his dad saying "remember, this is only temporary" became.

This video changed my perception, which changed my direction, which changed my life. I wouldn’t be who I am without Rodney Mullen inspiring me at such a young age. The best dude to ever do it ❤️❤️❤️

Mullen has been credited with inventing the following tricks (years included): Godzilla rail flip (1979)[55] 540 shove-it (1979)[55] 50/50 Saran wrap (1979)[55] 50/50 Casper (1980)[55] Helipop (1980)[55] Gazelle flip (1981)[55] No-handed 50/50 (1981)[55] No-handed 50/50 kickflip[6] Kick flip (1982)[55] Heel flip (1982)[55] Double heelflip[6] Impossible (1982)[55] Sidewinder (1983)[55] 360 flip (1983)[55] Switch 360 flip[6] 360 pressure flip (1983)[55] Casper 360 flip (1983)[55] Half-cab kickflip (1983)[55] 50/50 sidewinder (1983)[55] One-footed ollie (1984)[55] Backside flip (Backside 180 Kickflip) (1984)[55] Ollie Nosebone (1986)[55] Ollie finger flip (1986)[55] Ollie Airwalk (1986)[55] Frontside heel flip shove-it (1988)[55] Switchstance 360 flip (1990)[55] Helipop heel flip (1990)[55] Kickflip underflip (1992)[55] Half-cab kickflip underflip(1992)[6] Casper slide (1992)[55] Half flip darkslide[55] Handstand flips[6] Primo grinds and slides

I am 48 and I still skate my old Mullen Sinner board with gringking trucks and element wheels. I’m not as good as I used to be but I can say I skated in competition with Jeff Philips a couple years before he killed himself. I lived it and breathed it.

Most people are happy and satisfied once they learn how to flip a board and land on it. Rodney be like, "wait, what if i flipped it back, mid rotation, while I'm still in the air?" And I would say to that, "You have lost your mind sir." Then I see him do it and i contemplate "what if I quit and never tried anything again, ever in my life?" The man is simultaneously an inspiration and a deterent. We all know we will never possess the talent and ability of this man.

Greatest Of All Time is an understatement 🏆✨

Mullen 23 years after still amazes, like the first time you see him from the vhs tapes you watched over and over and over again.

Rodney really is The Godfather. It’s kind of crazy how many tricks he’s responsible for creating. Modern street skating exists because of Rodney and the tricks he invented.

Hands down.. By far the best skilled skater ever. A true legend. Much respect for Rodney.

I just looked up the definition of Autism: A serious developmental disorder that impairs the ability to communicate and interact. If you have seen Rodney Mullen's Ted Talks, or his relatable and unique way of communicating in general, I would disagree that he has an impairment of communication. On the contrary, he makes more sense and is more captivating than many people I've spoken to. I then had to ask myself if that makes me autistic, and since neither I nor Rodney have ever been professionally diagnosed with that impairment, I get to the conclusion that he is just different. By being different and obsessed with skateboarding he moved into a realm of skill the majority wasn't willing to dedicate themselves to. It changes you to be possessed by a calling. Just because he's overwhelmingly sincere, excited and takes his time choosing his words, doesn't make him mentally impaired. It makes him cool.

Sheckler was still chillin in his dad's junk when Mullen was winning contests. Learn your history young man.

The Godfather and Grandmaster of skateboarding. Great documentary! The sport wouldn't be what it is without Rodney and his contributions.

Rodney was always my favorite skater growing up in the 80’s. When he was with the Bones Brigade was the first time I seen him skate and it blew my mind.

It’s not hard to realize that he is a genius and did what he was destined to do. And it’s a beautiful thing.

a shame really to have such young skaters on here hating on the "GOD FATHER" of skateboarding RODNEY MULLEN P.S. skateboarding isn't about championships skaters who think that way are the new posers

Here I am, cuz recalled the song Wig 14 in my head.. its been 20 yrs since. Remember I almost cried watching this movie thinking of becoming one of the legends.. Now industry is way much different. No more easy to open doors here.

Favorite skater of all time. I remember first seeing his montage video on Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1 or 2 - the one with AFI blasting in the background.... I was blown away.

Still watchin in 2019! Mullin for President!