TJ Rogers is unequivocally one of the hardest working skateboarders — whether the multitude of parts released last year, the one-man shoe release tour, or pulling up to the D7 Hardies jam and being the one person to knock out three tricks that had never been done before (fakie bigspin, switch front 3 and switch pop shove) — there was a case to be made for him being the people’s choice for Skater of the Year in 2025. In 2026, now embracing new fatherhood and easy to get on the line, we hit him to run down a few favorites.
Tom Penny — Flip: Really Sorry (2003)
I watched this video a lot growing up. It was a dope time in skating; Flip had an all-time team. Every time this came on, I was so hyped on Tom’s song. Tom is also just a legend in skateboarding. He turns 50 this year; he was maybe 27 in this.
I love him skating that flat gap at the beginning in the green shirt. They always used to do that back in the day: start off a part with a bunch of tricks on the same spot, back-to-back. And I know he does the nollie big spin right after it, but that plain nollie he does out of the bowl is one of the sickest clips ever.
éS did a Europe trip last year for my shoe release, and he was supposed to come for one or two days and he ended up meeting us in Paris and coming for seven or eight. He was definitely a highlight on the trip for me.
Grant Patterson — Blind: What If? (2005)
Grant’s whole intro with the South Park really hit home for me. The first line he does in Australia has had me wanting to skate that spot ever since I was a kid, but I haven’t had the chance yet. Nollie flip Wilshire at the end was money. This is a classic.
Wade Desarmo – Kayo: It’s Official (2006)
Wade’s part was a favorite for me and a lot of people in the era when I grew up. His effortless style and tech was amazing amazing to watch. He was doing switch flip front feebles and other tricks that were unheard of then, and still rare to see nowadays.
Chad Dickson — Yesterday’s Future by Jarvis Nigelsky (2007)
Chad’s part was another favorite for me growing up. The video was for a skateshop called Underworld. This was one of the first big skate shop videos that had very heavy hitters throughout the entire video. It’s so hard to pick out one part from it, but Chad’s part was probably one of the most influential ones for me growing up. I remember loving his intro — it was where he grew up, at his house in the middle of nowhere — and I love that one line he does maybe 1:45 with the nollie crook, nollie back heel and then a switch heel back 5-0. Those ledges were in his hometown, too.
Tiago Lemos — New Balance #: Intervals (2024)
Part begins @ 8:10
I wanted to pick something newer, and that whole video is one of my favorites recently. His skating is so powerful.
I had heard through the grapevine for a couple years that he was trying to do the switch back noseblunt flip out. I saw one of my homies post an IG story of him chilling at the table with the champion Emoji, and I was like, “No way, he fucking got it.” I couldn’t wait for the video to come out to see it. I don’t think that had been done on anything, let alone a picnic table, and he’s a goddamn champion for doing it on one. I didn’t even ask what the trick was — I already knew. And the fact that he did that switch back noseblunt on the Bay Blocks more than once is insane.
Previously: Poe Pinson, Dick Rizzo, Karim Callender, Salomon Cardenas, Diego Todd, Ish Cepeda, Will Marshall, Grant Yansura, Ryan Lay, Nikolai Piombo, Hayley Wilson, Frank Gerwer, Gus Gordon, Max Palmer, Etienne Gagne, Jacopo Carozzi, Nicole Hause, Matt Militano, Evan Wasser, Ryuhei Kitazumi, Sarah Meurle, Vitória Mendonça, Andrew Wilson, Ben Kadow, Chandler Burton, Pedro Delfino, Johnny Wilson, Nick Michel, Wes Kremer, Jordan Trahan, Ariana Spencer, Elijah Odom, Greg Hunt, Zered Bassett, Neil Herrick, Trung Nguyen, Nick Boserio, Elissa Steamer, Casper Brooker, John Gardner, Bobshirt, Brandon Turner, Shari White, Nick Jensen, Tony Hawk, Naquan Rollings, Jack O’Grady, Josh Wilson, Maité Steenhoudt, Jahmir Brown, Una Farrar, Chris Jones, Mason Silva, Beatrice Domond, Mark Suciu, Justin Henry, Breana Geering, Sage Elsesser, Bobby Worrest, Nik Stain, Anthony Van Engelen, Dom Henry, Bing Liu, Andrew Reynolds, Cyrus Bennett, Jacob Harris, Jamal Smith, Paul Rodriguez, Gilbert Crockett, Ben Chadourne, Tom Knox, Louie Lopez, The Chrome Ball Incident, The Bunt, Lacey Baker, Andrew Allen, GX1000, Brian Anderson, Gino Iannucci, Josh Kalis, Sean Pablo, Wade Desarmo, Chris Milic, Chad Muska, Hjalte Halberg, Danny Brady, Bill Strobeck, Aaron Herrington, Jerry Hsu, Brad Cromer, Brandon Westgate, Jim Greco, Jake Johnson, Scott Johnston, Josh Stewart, Eric Koston, Karl Watson, Josh Friedberg, John Cardiel, Pontus Alv, Alex Olson, Jahmal Williams