Jeff Grosso

Jeff Grosso (April 28, 1968 - March 31, 2020) was an American professional skateboarder, skate documentarian, and web series host from Arcadia, California.[1][2][3][4]

Jeff Grosso
Born
Jeffrey Blaine Grosso

(1968-04-28)April 28, 1968
Arcadia, California, U.S.
DiedMarch 31, 2020(2020-03-31) (aged 51)
Newport Beach, California, U.S.
Other namesThe Brat, Mothra, Grossman

Skateboarding

Grosso started skateboarding at the age of 5.[2] He broke onto the skateboarding scene at a young age, turning pro at the age of 12.[2] In 1982, at the age of 14, the shoe and apparel company Vans began sponsoring Grosso. A personal and professional relationship that continued into 2020 with Vans' sponsoring Grosso's popular YouTube show “Love Letters to Skateboarding.”[2] Grosso grew up skateboarding with prominent figures such as Neil Blender and Lance Mountain.[5] Grosso was one of the most recognizable skateboarders in the United States in the 1980s, known for his vert skating. He appeared in multiple classic skate videos including the Powell Peralta video Future Primitive and the Santa Cruz Skateboards video Streets on Fire.[1] Additionally, Jeff graced the cover of the October 1994 issue of Transworld Skateboarding. Grosso had his career derailed due to substance abuse and found it over by the early-mid 1990s.[6] Grosso got sober in 2005 and resumed skateboarding professionally.[2]

Skateboard historian

Grosso was an unofficial historian of skateboarding, always there to share a story and insight into skateboarding with the younger generation of skaters.[2] This love of skateboard history morphed in Grosso's popular YouTube show “Love Letters to Skateboarding.”[6] Jeff described the history of skateboarding as "so f--king muddy and grey. There is no black and white."[5]

Anti-hero skateboards

Grosso, joined Anti Hero Skateboards in early 2011, explaining the process in an August 2013 interview: "I'll ask, I'll shoot at the mountaintop, and maybe I'll land at base camp. Once I got the courage to call them up, or whatever, and then they were like, 'Well, we have to vote.', or whatever, 'cause they run it like a gang ... So once I found out that they all, like, voted yes ... it was a proud moment."[7][5]

Grosso made one appearance in the X Games, finishing fourth in the Skateboard Park Legends event at X Games 16 in 2010.[5]

Personal life

Grosso attended Arcadia High School where he did not graduate with the class of 1986 because a Government teacher questioned Grosso in class for wearing an AHS girls softball sweatshirt (teacher was the coach for girls softball ). Grosso said he borrowed the sweatshirt after being accused by the teacher of stealing it. The teacher was very protective of his girls on the team. Grosso has said that he got the sweatshirt from a girl whom he had spent the night with and didn't want to out the girl. Subsequently, the teacher gave Grosso and Incomplete grade for not answering him. Grosso said he never had time to do summer school and make up for it because of his skateboarding career.[8] Grosso has a son Oliver, who was born 2012.[9]

References
  1. "Jeff Grosso - That Pool Dude". Huck Magazine. April 1, 2020. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  2. "Jeff Grosso, legendary skateboarder from the '80s, dies at 51". Los Angeles Times. April 3, 2020. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  3. "Jeff Grosso R.I.P. 1968-2020". Transworld SKATEboarding. April 1, 2020. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  4. "Jeff Grosso, legendary skateboarding pioneer, dead at 51". CBSSports.com. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  5. Ed Andrews (September 7, 2011). "Jeff Grosso: That Pool Dude". Huck Magazine. Huck Magazine. Retrieved September 9, 2013.
  6. Zucker, Joseph. "Skateboarding Legend Jeff Grosso Dies at Age 51". Bleacher Report. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  7. crailtap (August 29, 2013). "On the Crail Couch with Jeff Grosso" (Video upload). YouTube. Google, Inc. Retrieved September 9, 2013.
  8. "You.tube Interview Jeff Grosso". The Nine Club With Chris Roberts - Episode 85.
  9. "Legendary Skateboarder Jeff Grosso Dies at Age 51". Distractify. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
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