Skateboarding Legend Jeff Grosso Dies at Age 51

Skateboarding legend Jeff Grosso died Tuesday at the age of 51. 

TMZ Sports confirmed the news with police in Newport Beach, California. The cause of death remains unknown, with the local medical examiner expected to perform an autopsy.

Tony Hawk eulogized Grosso on Instagram:

"He was a true skateboarder at his core, and a great wealth of entertainment, insight and valuable philosophy to a younger generation. ... One of the last times we spoke, we talked about how ridiculous it is that we still get to do this for a living and that anyone even cares what we do or think in terms of skateboarding at our age. I believe Jeff is a big reason that anyone truly cares, and skateboarding was lucky to have him as an ambassador and gatekeeper to its history."

Grosso was one of the most recognizable skateboarders in the United States in the 1980s, but Huck's Ed Andrews wrote in 2011 that "heavy indulgence in drink and drugs meant that his career was over by the early 1990s." He told Transworld Skateboarding in October 2012 that he had overdosed on heroin three times.

In recent years, Grosso hosted the YouTube series Loveletters to Skateboarding (warning: video contains profanity), which helped him build a following among younger fans and showed off his colorful personality.

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