Paul Rodriguez (skateboarder)
Paul Martin Rodriguez, also known by his nickname P-Rod, is an American professional street skateboarder and actor. 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.
Early life, family and education
Rodriguez was born in Tarzana, Los Angeles, California. 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 met celebrities through his father. He recounted one such memory:
I'll tell you a good story about Mr. T. I believe it was 1988, every year there was a Christmas Day parade in Pasadena ; 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.... 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.
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." Rodriguez recalled,"I got money, got myself a board, and it was game over." 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 trophy.
Rodriguez attended Birmingham High School in Van Nuys, California.
Career
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. 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." DNA Skateboards was Rodriguez's first company sponsor and he appeared in the 1999 video Microanalysis. 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.City Stars
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 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, but Rodriguez's departure from the company resulted in the product's cancellation. 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." In 2014 Rodriguez described his time at the brand as "the most magical," with a team that possessed "enthusiasm and passion" that was "contagious."
Girl
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 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. The deck, released in 2002, featured the original Girl logo, Rodriguez's name, and the Spanish word "Muchachita", meaning "girl", instead of the usual "Girl" brand name. Rodriguez stated that "That was my first pro board and to have it on a company like Girl was awesome." In April 2013 Rodriguez explained that he "loved" his time with the Girl company and, prior to receiving contact from Danny Way—who asked him to join the relaunched Plan B company—he considered Girl a lifelong sponsor.
Plan B
Following Girl, Rodriguez joined the relaunched Plan B skateboard deck brand that was under the ownership and guidance of original riders Danny Way and Colin McKay, who continue to own the brand as of March 2014.Rodriguez released a solo Plan B video part, entitled Me, Myself, and I, in 2010. The inaugural Plan B full-length video has been a topic of discussion among the global skateboarding community for a prolonged duration of time, as promotional footage has been released and the company has been in existence for a significant period of time, with a renowned team established during this time period. A late November episode of the internet-based, weekly program, Skateline, broadcast on the RIDE Channel, showed footage of company co-owner and team rider, Danny Way, stating that the video would be made according to a schedule determined by the company regardless of external pressure.
Seven out of Rodriguez's top ten skateboard graphics of all time are Plan B Rodriguez signature designs, according to an interview that was published in February 2013. A collaboration between Plan B and Nike SB is Rodriguez's second favorite graphic, while a Bruce Lee "Fury" deck and a Muhammad Ali deck were also included in the list.
In a July 2013 radio interview with Big Boi on Los Angeles' Power 106, Rodriguez confirmed his departure, which had already been widely speculated. During his winning performance at Stop 5 of the 2013 Street League Skateboarding contest in Portland, Oregon, U.S., Rodriguez rode a skateboard deck with the Plan B logo painted over and the company's logo was removed from his personal website as of July 16, 2013. Rodriguez explained in the interview that he is seeking to "own a little bit more of myself."
Post-Plan B
In June 2014, following the launch of his own skateboard deck company, Primitive Skateboarding, and his eighth signature shoe with Nike, Rodriguez explained his perspective on the future:
It got to a point where I wanted to get my name on a board and did that, wanted my name on a shoe and did that, wanted other endorsements, awards, and to win certain competitions, and did those, too... Now it's back to just wanting to get better. I want to keep improving my abilities.
The design for his Nike signature shoe was first leaked onto the Internet at the beginning of the year, leading to an intense degree of discussion among consumers, described by the Ripped Laces website as "hate/skepticism." The corresponding advertisement featured Nike SB team member, Theotis Beasley, and was produced by the Wieden + Kennedy agency.
In a promotional day-in-the-life photo diary for the Hypebeast website, published on December 16, 2014, Rodriguez revealed that his personal skateboarding park is scheduled for a remodeling process. He also stated that his daily caffeine fix brings "happiness," and that the only time his mind is clear is while he is skateboarding.
At the beginning of 2015, Rodriguez joined the Glassy Sunhaters sunglasses brand, co-owned by fellow professional skateboarder Mike Mo Capaldi. His signature sunglasses model was released in February 2015.
Primitive Skateboarding
In 2008, Rodriguez launched Primitive Skateboarding.Sponsors
As of January 19, 2016, Rodriguez is sponsored by Primitive Skateboarding, Nike Skateboarding, Target, Nixon Watches, Incase Designs, Primitive Skateshop, Glassy Sunhaters, Markisa, Venture, Andalé Bearings As of June 2014, Rodriguez is managed by Circe Wallace.Nike sponsorship
Rodriguez is a senior team rider for the Nike skateboarding division, having released his eighth skate shoe model in May 2014, and was responsible for welcoming Luan Oliviera to Nike in September 2012. Rodriguez released his first signature Nike shoe in 2005 following his departure from skate shoe brand, éS Footwear. Rodriguez explained in a 2012 interview for the "Footnotes" segment on the Berrics website:
The transition from éS to Nike was—after I got through making the phone call—I had to call Koston; I had to call, you know, Tony at éS; had to call a few people 'cause we were close; we were good family over there. So, after I got through that hard part, and I could just, and I was free of that burden, then when I got on Nike, it was just, like, the world was opened up—it was insane.
Rodriguez was one of the early riders to be approached by Nike following its second attempt to succeed in the skateboarding market and sub-culture. Rodriguez has explained:
Um, my thoughts on Nike when they first approached me were cool. I mean, like, I did get some criticisms, selling out, this and that... and I've never really been too worried 'bout that criticism. So my thoughts were just like, I look at it like this, like: My first pair of shoes were the baby Jordans , you know what I mean, so, like, I had Nikes all my life growing up, and even at the time that I was on éS, any time that I was not skating, I wearing some white-on-white Air Force Ones, or Cortezs—I had a whole flock of Nike anyway... the way I looked at it, was like, I've been a Nike supporter since birth. So me, I was just stoked, I was just hyped to get on Nike.
Rodriguez released his seventh signature model shoe, entitled the "Paul Rodriguez 7," with Nike in mid-2013. It was designed with Shawn Carboy, who Rodriguez first started working with during the design of his fifth signature model. Rodriguez prioritized the functionality of the shoe, and impact protection is its primary feature.
The "P-ROD 8", Rodriguez's eighth signature shoe was released in May 2014. On May 25, 2014, Rodriguez, alongside fellow Nike team member and skateboarding veteran, Lance Mountain, promoted the model in a video interview, whereby the history of the Nike shoe in skateboarding culture forms the foundation of the segment—Mountain explained that prior to the official launch of the Nike brand onto the skateboarding market, skateboarders said, "This is our shoe". Rodriguez described himself as a "Jordan baby", growing up during the peak of Michael Jordan's career, and explained that his eighth Nike shoe model is an "homage to all those things I grew up loving—even before I met skateboarding. And now it's intertwined." The P-ROD 8 features three of Nike's shoe technology developments: "Lunarlon", "Flywire" and "Hyperscreen".
Following the release of the P-ROD 8, Rodriguez was informed by a Nike executive that he is one of only four Nike athletes to have produced eight signature shoe models—the other being Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James. In 2014, having been sponsored by Nike for ten years, Rodriguez stated: "it feels like I've also grown with them. I’ve become intertwined with Nike. Our stories are together — at least with Nike SB. The process of making a shoe, at this point, is like a well-oiled machine."