Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Paul Martin Rodriguez Jr. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nickname(s) | P-Rod | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born |
Tarzana, California, United States |
December 31, 1984 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Residence | Northridge, California | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 162 lb (73 kg) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Country | United States | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | Skateboarding | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Paul Martin Rodriguez Jr. (born December 31, 1984), 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, United States (U.S.) in July 2012.
Rodriguez was born in Tarzana, California, U.S., Rodriguez's nickname was given to him by his classmates when he was around eleven years of age.
P-Rod, at twelve years of age, Rodriguez received his first skateboard as a Christmas gift from mom Laura Martinez and actor/comedian father Paul Rodriguez; 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 said in June 2014: "I got money, got myself a board, and it was game over."
In an interview with skateboard photographer Giovanni Reda, Rodriguez recounted a vivid memory of his early life as the son of a celebrity:
I'll tell you a good story about Mr. T [actor and celebrity, born Laurence Tureaud]. 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're, 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 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 went to Birmingham High School in Van Nuys, CA.