Paul Rodriguez

Paul Martin Rodriguez Jr. (born December 31, 1984), also known by his nickname P-Rod, is an American professional street skateboarder, actor, rapper, and recording artist.

I believe it was 1988, every year there was a Christmas Day parade in Pasadena [California, US]; I was probably about three-and-a-half, four years-old—I loved Mr. T. He had the cartoon out at the time and all that.

We were there at the banquet before the parade started 'cause my dad brought me to take me in the car to wave at the crowd, or whatever.

And, ah, I had to go to the bathroom, my dad was getting interviewed, and, like, I tried to tell him; Mr. T was just standing there, chilling, 'cause they were just talking, and Mr. T goes, "I'll take you".

And he throws me up on his shoulders, and I'm sitting up on top of all his gold chains.

I remember it perfectly and he put me on top of his shoulders and walked me to the bathroom; like, just waited outside for me, and it was sick.

Mr. T chauffeured me to [the bathroom].

Rodriguez's nickname "P-Rod" was given to him by his classmates when he was around eleven years old.

When he was twelve, Rodriguez received his first skateboard as a Christmas gift from his parents.

Rodriguez had seen a group of skateboarders at his new school and was immediately fascinated by "how they kept their board to their feet and how they could flip it."

DNA Skateboards was Rodriguez's first company sponsor and he appeared in the 1999 video Microanalysis.

Rodriguez was featured in Transworld Skateboarding's 2002 video, In Bloom.

This video showcased a segment of sponsored, talented skaters who were at the start of their respective careers.

Following the video's release, Rodriguez commenced riding for Girl Skateboards and achieved professional status in September 2002.

Rodriguez has won a total of eight medals at the X Games, four of them gold, with the most recent first-place victory occurring in Los Angeles, California in July 2012.

Rodriguez was born in Tarzana, California, U.S. His father is actor and comedian Paul Rodriguez, and his mother is Laura Martinez.

He also has an older sister Nikole and a younger brother Lucas.

As a child, Rodriguez occasionally got to meet celebrities through his father.

In a later interview, he recounted one such memory:

I'll tell you a good story about Mr. T.

Rodriguez stated in a July 2013 interview that he slept with new skateboard products as a child due to his passion for skateboarding, and admitted that he slept with his first Street League Skateboarding (SLS) trophy.

Rodriguez attended Birmingham High School in Van Nuys, CA.

Rodriguez was initially recruited to the team of a local skateboard shop named "One Eighteen", managed by an Andy Netkin, who was 19 years old at the time, while Rodriguez had just become 14 years old.

As he was too shy at the time, Rodriguez asked a friend to submit his "Sponsor me" video tape to Netkin, who was immediately impressed and asked the friend to bring Rodriguez into the store.

Rodriguez explained in February 2013: "I specifically remember that I knew I wanted to quit and I felt like I could at least show enough respect and tell them before they spent all that money to print up my boards. I didn't want to leave them with an inventory of boards they couldn't sell so I made sure to quit well before they went into production."

Rodriguez explained in a 2013 interview that he was asked to join the Girl team by Eric Koston, whom he called his all-time favorite skateboarder.

Rodriguez said that it was the most significant event in his skateboarding career, as it was, "the moment that my dream happened."

Rodriguez was sponsored by Girl from the age of seventeen to nineteen, and appears in the Girl Skateboards film Yeah Right.

During this period, he shared a house with professional skateboarder and rap artist Jereme Rogers.

In February 2013, Rodriguez identified his debut professional signature skateboard with Girl as his favorite deck graphic of all-time.

Rodriguez said in June 2014: "I got money, got myself a board, and it was game over."

Netkin then offered Rodriguez a place on the store team the following day at their first meeting—Netkin explained in 2014 that, at the time, he had a strong sense of Rodriguez's future as a "superstar."

Former professional skateboarder Anthony Pappalardo stated in a June 24, 2014 online radio show—hosted by professional skateboarder Alex Olsen—that he encouraged Joe Castrucci, cofounder of the Habitat skateboard brand, to recruit Rodriguez before he was officially sponsored, but Castrucci declined.

At age sixteen, Rodriguez then rode for City Stars, a company co-founded by professional skateboarder Kareem Campbell in Los Angeles, U.S. Despite being an amateur at the time, Rodriguez earned the last part in the video Street Cinema, which is an honor typically bestowed to an esteemed professional of the team.

Rodriguez explained in 2014 that he was initially opposed to Campbell's use of the Jackson 5 song "I Want You Back" for the first half of his part, as it had been used for Guy Mariano's part in the Blind Skateboards video Video Days, but conceded that at the time he "was oblivious to the statement he [Campbell] was trying to make by choosing that song."

Alongside Mikey Taylor, Justin Case, Devine Calloway and Kevin "Spanky" Long, Rodriguez was an amateur team member, while the professional team included Lee Smith, Joey Suriel, Ryan Denman and Eric Pupecki.

Rodriguez developed his interest in jewelry during this period, as Campbell was a collector and purchased Rodriguez a diamond bracelet.

The period also influenced Rodriguez's musical taste, as he commenced listening to artists like Jay-Z and Nas due to the time spent with Campbell.

City Stars had planned to release a signature skateboard deck design, featuring Rodriguez's name on the grill of a Mercedes-Benz (Rodriguez's first car), but Rodriguez's departure from the company resulted in the product's cancellation.

In 2014 Rodriguez described his time at the brand as "the most magical," with a team that possessed "enthusiasm and passion" that was "contagious."