| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Rodney Mullen |
| Born | August 17, 1966 Gainesville, Florida, U.S. |
| Website | rodneymullen.net |
| Sport | |
| Country | United States |
| Sport | Skateboarding |
John Rodney "'The Mutt" Mullen (August 17, 1966) is a professional freestyle and street skateboarder.
He is widely acknowledged as one of the most innovative and influential street skaters in the history of skateboarding.[1]
Mullen is credited with inventing the flatground ollie (originally named the "ollie pop"), the kickflip (originally called the "magic flip") in 1983, the heelflip, the impossible and a long list of other original tricks.[2] Mullen is credited in numerous skateboarding videos, and has authored an autobiography entitled The Mutt: How to Skateboard and not Kill Yourself.[3][4]
In a 2009 video Mullen sums up his passion for skateboarding as follows:
I fell in love with skateboarding because it was individual. There were no teams, there were no captains... it was completely opposite of what I saw in so many sports: It was creative.[5]
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Rodney Mullen began skateboarding at the age of ten after he promised his worried father he would stop the first time he became seriously injured. Rodney began practicing in full pads, and hung out with his sister's surfer friends who skateboarded on the weekdays.[6] In 1978, having owned a skateboard for less than a year, Rodney took fifth place in Boy's Freestyle at the U.S. Open Championships at Kona Skatepark in Jacksonville. Bruce Walker saw his performance and sponsored Mullen through Walker Skateboards in 1978, 1979, and 1980. Rodney's biggest influence in skateboarding at that time was Walker pro skater Jim McCall. Rodney was coached in his early years by Bruce Walker (who also coached a young Kelly Slater, now considered to be the greatest surfer of all time). In later years, Mullen was coached by Barry Zaritzky, aka SIO Barry.
When his family moved to a farm in a remote part of Florida, Rodney began perfecting his flatground techniques in the family garage. Mullen cites the isolation and lack of terrain naturally influenced him toward freestyle skateboarding. Rodney cites 1979 - 1980 as his "most creative time".[6] Mullen put together a string of 30 straight competitive amateur victories in the late 70s, mostly in his home state, Florida, culminating in a win at the Oceanside Nationals in June, 1979.
In 1980, 14-year-old Rodney Mullen entered the Oasis Pro competition, defeating world champion Steve Rocco. Mullen soon turned professional as a member of the Bones Brigade sponsored by Powell Peralta. Rodney competed voraciously throughout the 80s—often frustrating both competitors and judges with his consistency and progressive ability.[7] By 1990 Rodney had won 34 out of 35 freestyle competitions that he entered, having been beaten only once by fellow Bones Brigade member Per Welinder. Rodney thus established the most successful competitive run in the history of the sport.
Despite Alan Gelfand's justifiable fame for inventing the ollie air (Gelfand's maneuver being primarily a transition-oriented trick) Mullen is responsible for the invention and development of the street ollie. The ability to pop the board off of the ground and land back on the board while moving has quite likely been the most significant development in modern skateboarding. This invention alone would rank Mullen the most important skateboarder of all time.
Throughout the 1980s, he invented the majority of skating's ollie and flip tricks, including the flatground ollie, the Kickflip, the Heelflip. These tricks are now considered an essential part of modern vertical and street skateboarding.
In early 1989, Mullen left the Bones Brigade to form World Industries as a principal investor with longtime friend and former rival Steve Rocco.[7]
As the popularity of freestyle skateboarding declined, Mullen was often urged to move his style toward street skating.[7] This is hinted at in the World Industries video Rubbish Heap, where Mullen's sequence ends with team member Jeremy Klein breaking Rodney's freestyle skateboard, and handing him a note from Steve Rocco, symbolizing the end of freestyle.[8]
In 1991 Mullen joined the high-profile skateboarding team Plan B. Mike Ternasky, the owner of Plan B, influenced Rodney to transition from freestyle to street skating, and showcased the results in the 1992 Plan B video Questionable. Mullen's segment begins with traditional freestyle tricks done on flat ground, but quickly accelerates across public terrain to shift into standard street skating. In relation to obstacles, he sequences tricks, mixes flip tricks with grinds and board slides. In the video, Mullen introduced two newly invented tricks, the Kickflip Underflip and the Casper slide.
Mullen's Questionable performance may have marked the beginning of a new era in street skateboarding. His reluctant departure from freestyle to become a street skater was a symbol that legitimized the technical direction street skating had taken over the previous few years. Mullen specialized at this progression in subsequent Plan B videos; noteworthy is 1993's Virtual Reality where Mullen showcases the newly-mastered Darkslide.
Mullen's participation in Plan B dissolved after Mike Ternasky died unexpectedly in 1994. In 1997, Mullen started another company, A-Team, with the intent of forming a super team with the defection of Plan B from the World Industries empire.[6] Rodney talked to friend and fellow pro Daewon Song to plan the video Rodney vs. Daewon, which featured each skater competing in segments from trick to trick.
Since 1999, Rodney Mullen has appeared in most of the console games of the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series, Tony Hawk Underground, Tony Hawk Underground 2, Tony Hawk American Wasteland, Tony Hawks Proving Ground, and the last game he was in was Tony Hawk: Ride [9]
The A-Team folded in 2000 and Mullen went from company founder to company rider under former Maple rider Marc Johnson, who started Enjoi Skateboards. Mullen left Enjoi to head Almost Skateboards with Daewon Song, the company which he still helms and skates for. Mullen's role at Almost includes research and development on new designs and technologies, including Tensor truck in 2000[10] and experimental and composite deck constructions for Dwindle brands.[11]
In 2002 the World Industries companies, under the holding name Kubic Marketing, were bought out by Globe International for $46 million. Kubic's management remained intact and Mullen began working for Globe International under the Dwindle Distribution brand.[12]
In 2003, Mullen wrote and released his autobiography, entitled The Mutt: How to skateboard and not kill yourself. In late 2003 he was voted as the all-time greatest action sports athlete on the Extreme Sports Channel's Legends of the Extreme countdown.[13][14]
From 2007 to 2009, Mullen worked to erase his riding stance, allowing him to move from regular stance to goofy. In an interview with Tony Hawk, Mullen explained that he had developed problems in his right hip joint and that his transition between stances came out of an effort to favor his leg. He goes on to describe that scar tissue had built up in his joint as a result of habitually hyper-extending his leg while skating. Mullen stated that through extensive and consistent stretching he was able to tear away the scar tissue.[15]
In December 2010 Mullen stated in an interview that he is preparing to film a part for the upcoming Almost video.[16]
I can't wait to wake up in the morning... A lot of times I can't sleep because I can't wait to try something new. How many people ever really experience that feeling? Rodney Mullen, 2003[5]