Rogers' Rising Star...

With a resume even Donald Trump would be jealous of, Jereme Rogers has already earned his right as one of the big bosses of skateboarding. Whether he’s wooing the masses with his switch-stance mastery at some of the largest and esteemed contests in the land, or filming and shooting photos alongside legends like Eric Koston and Danny Way who are ten or more years his senior, there’s nothing apprentice about Rogers. Oh yeah, did we forget mention? He’s only 22.

Bred on the East Coast and planting his roots in America’s historic hub of Boston, Massachusetts, Jereme spent his days as a young teenager perfecting his signature combination of technical skill with a yearning to “go big.” Many of the flip tricks seasoned pros were trying to perfect on flatground, Jereme was already throwing them down double-digit sets of stairs and across overhead-high downtown city gaps.

But despite his undeniable talent at such a young age, being 3,000 miles away from the industry’s mover and shakers in Southern California kept a possible career in skateboarding looking grim. That is until, Jereme made the move.

BYE BYE BOSTON, HELLO CALI

What Jereme calls his big break in skateboarding, after he finished the eighth grade, at the "not even able to get a driver’s license yet" age of fourteen, Jereme dropped out of school and moved to California—well not exactly moved, in the traditional sense. “I couched surf it for a couple years,” he remembers.

Although he left his family, friends, and hometown behind only to find himself bouncing from couch to couch, he was living a skateboarder’s dream in California. And it was no surprise Jereme quickly began to make a name for himself. He striked up friendships with (now teammate) Paul Rodriguez and other heavy-hitting pros and team riders and it was not before long until he was added to the Girl skateboards’ and DVS shoes’ teams.
As a teamrider for two of the most respected teams in skateboarding and still in his youth, Jereme was on four-wheeled warpath, integrating his East Coast hip-hop style and stamina with the West’s “endless summer” weather and abundance of skate spots. Filming became an everyday mission and he dropped two major video parts in consecutive years—2002 and 2003—a feat that blew even the most dedicated of skaters away. “I don’t think people on the West Coast skate as much as people on the East Coast, so I don’t think they understood. When we’d go skate, we’d skate for like twelve hours a day—on a day-to-day basis.”

In 2005, Jereme’s name was officially stamped on his very own skateboard at Girl, elevating his status to the sought after professional ranks. It was no surprise that the next year he was deservedly voted TransWorld SKATEboarding’s 2006 Rookie of the Year.

KILLIN’ THE COMPS

Watch any one of Jereme’s video parts and there’s no denying his skills in the streets. But it wasn’t until he entered and won his first major pro contest at Tampa Pro in 2005, did anyone fully grasp his domination on the course. “I had dabbled in contests at a young age, but I just didn’t do them as much. I was focused on street skating. But then I went pro and did well in a pro contest and that’s when I said, ‘I’m going to do these a little bit.’”

Now one of the more familiar faces at the X Games and on AST Tour, it’s not too often you’ll find him placing anything outside of the top three. And it’s almost never you’ll find him outside the top ten. With a win at the 2005 and 2006 Goofy vs. Regular contest and taking home the 2005 World Cup of Skateboarding title, Jereme’s no stranger to standing atop the first place podium. But he’s yet to become the overall winner at the AST Tour, a feat he’s determined to accomplish in the next couple of years.

GOING THROUGH GOD

At the age of nineteen, in the midst of living the dream of the competing and traveling professional skateboarder, Jereme had a spiritual awakening. “I’m not perfect by any means, but I have an undeniable belief in God and a really strong faith and whatever’s going on in my life it’s going through his hands,” he says. And Jereme’s Christianity and belief in God is no secret. The words “I Fear No Man” are tattooed on one side of his neck. “In God I Trust” is inked on the other side. To this day, Jereme continues to live through God no matter what life or career changes he faces. In 2007, Jereme chose to go down a new path, joining Ryan Sheckler and P-Rod at Plan B skateboards. He put out Jereme Rogers’ Neighborhood, a skate video starring himself and a number of his handpicked friends, and made Travis Barker’s Famous Stars and Straps clothing the next addition to his sponsor list. Also, in collaboration with P-Rod and Terry Kennedy, the trio launched sk8site.com, a MySpace-like Web site strictly for skaters and fans of skateboarding.

But what may seem like a big year for the 22-year-old, is just the beginning of something much bigger, in the most humbling of ways. “I really just want to be the best I can be and then use that as a light and an example to show that through God, anybody can accomplish anything they want.”