Birthdate: December 31, 1984
Birthplace: Chatsworth, California
The son of a famous comedian, this skateboarder is making his own name for himself. Read up on one of the skating world's fastest rising stars!
Rise to Fame
Paul Rodriguez Jr. is the son of famous Mexican-American comedian Paul Rodriguez. His dad bought Paul his first skateboard when he was 13 as a Christmas gift. He instantly fell in love with the sport and within a year was skating with different skate teams. In 2002, Paul turned pro and signed with Girl Skateboard Company. He was named the Transworld Skateboarding Magazine's Rookie of the Year in 2002. For the next few years, he started placing high in competitions like the Slam City Jam and the US Skateboarding Championships. In his first X Games in 2003, Paul took third place in the Street competition and eighth in the Best Trick. The very next year he won the Street competition in the '04 X Games.Mr. Endorsements
In 2005, Paul made history by being the first skateboarder signed to Nike SB. He is also the first Hispanic to receive a signature shoe by Nike. Signing with Nike was not a popular choice within the skating community, who feel Nike is not a real skate company and are just trying to cash in. Aside from Nike, Paul has endorsement deals with Plan B Skateboards, Silver Trucks, Hubba Wheels, Ogio Backpacks, Von Zipper Sunglasses, Nixon Watches, Amp'd Mobile and Mountain Dew. He has also appeared in several Tony Hawk video games.Riding Style
Paul is very relaxed and smooth on the board. He uses a goofy stance and is very consistent and rarely falls. He can do just about every trick in the book and can do it on anything from rails to ledges to stairs.Did U Know?
Paul Says...
"Well, a large part of it is skateboarding skill. You gotta have that. You also have to have a personality or style that can be marketable if you want to have a long skating career. You see a lot of guys who dress funny and who can do all kinds of crazy tricks but they don't get recognized. I don't know, it's kind of weird."Related Stories:
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