Paul Rodriguez never wastes a perfect setup.
The skateboarding superstar brushes off the notion that athletes in his sport are simply out to make police and property owners angry.
“That just happens to be the nature of … just driving around and seeing something and trying to skate it,” the 30-year-old said. “So I think we get kind of a rap from that, but it’s not like a ‘Yeah, who cares what they say, let’s just get it.’ It’s more like, ‘I just can’t help but be compelled to skate these stairs right here.’ And if somebody gets upset about it, I’m sorry, it’s not my intention, but jeez, they’re just wasting a good set of stairs.”
Breaking down these misconceptions is one of the goals Rodriguez tackled while starring in the new documentary “We Are Blood,” which premieres in Chicago at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Patio Theater.
RedEye caught up with one of the biggest stars in the sport to talk about the connection skateboarders have, the aches and pains of failing to land a trick and sleeping in smelly RVs.
What stories will emerge when people see this movie?
Just the different walks of life and types of characters there are in skateboarding. I think people who don’t skate, there’s a general stereotype of when you think of a skateboarder you think of a certain type of individual. But I think once they see how it’s a worldwide phenomenon and meet these people and the travels that we have, that’s going to be shattered. We have a kid who’s completely deaf and he skates and he loves it and he dedicates everything to it. We’ve got a kid from the roughest parts of Brazil and he somehow found skateboarding and in my opinion he’s the most standout skateboarder skillwise in the film.
How did you find these skaters?
Some of the skaters that are part of the main core of people who traveled with us are all linked through the director, Ty Evans. He somehow knew most of the skaters or knew them through somebody else. He would just cold call a lot of people and ask if they wanted to go on this journey with us, and anyone in skating is going to pick up Ty Evans’ phone call. It’s cool because he got such a diverse cast. Some kids in the core group didn’t have any type of sponsors or anything. They’re just kids who are skating and having fun. Then you’ve got a veteran like myself who’s been around for a long time, and kids who are just starting to make their name in the sport. And when we traveled the world we met kids at the skate spots we would go to, and if someone caught our attention we would meet them and film them. They’d have tricks in the film and it would happen organically.
What did you learn about yourself from having a camera follow you around for a year in making the movie?
If I’m being honest with myself, I definitely learned that I’m a bit spoiled being in the game for so long and being blessed with great sponsors who sent me around the world first class, beautiful hotels. This movie was definitely not that. Being crammed together in an RV for weeks at a time, sometimes just camping at local campgrounds just off the highway or just kind of whatever hotels. I would try to keep it not too noticeable, but internally I would catch myself griping sometimes. But then after a while it opened my eyes to how blessed I am, and it really humbled me because I would look at other kids and it was the first trip they had ever gone on for skateboarding, and everything to them is amazing, like “oh my god, this is great!” It didn’t matter if it was a crappy hotel or the RV smelled terrible, it was just “everything is amazing! Great! Awesome! Cool!” So it really gave me a great perspective and brought me back to when I was a teenager just getting into the game.
Skateboarding has a supposed adversarial relationship with authority. How do you fight against it? Do you worry about that at all?
Realistically, we’re not [rebels who are against authority]. That’s not even our intention. I think from the outside looking in it seems that’s what we do because we’re willing to hop fences or light up spots at 3 in the morning with generators on private property to skate a set of stairs or a handrail that we see. But I don’t get off on the thrill of “OK, let’s hop this fence to get into this place to skate just to piss people off and be rebellious.” For me it’s a risk-reward situation. If there’s a spot that you want to skate so bad and you can risk getting a trespassing ticket or this and that, like “man, if I just get to skate this spot and get some tricks on film, it’s worth it, I’m just gonna risk it.”
Ever been arrested for skating?
Fortunately for myself I’ve never been inside of a jail cell. I’ve gotten plenty of tickets, been in the back of plenty of cop cars. One time when I was younger I got held in a police station, but they didn’t put me in a cell or anything. I was a young kid and they called my mom to pick me up, but that was it. I’ve been pretty fortunate to avoid any kind of real trouble.
Are you part of the push to make skateboarding an Olympic sport? What will it take to make that happen?
Different factions of people are vying together to be like the official sanctioned group to represent skateboarding. For me, honestly I could care less. My dream was never to become an Olympian, I just wanted to become a professional skateboarder. I really don’t care one way or the other if it goes in or not. If it does go in and it’s still during a timeframe when I’m in my prime and I get invited, sure, that’s a hell of an experience and I would definitely go. But other than that I can retire from skateboarding and not care at all if I was in the Olympics or not.
How much of your legacy is tied to being a Mexican-American athlete, especially one with his own Nike shoe?
It’s cool that I’m Mexican-American and I’ve been able to get a sneaker from a company like Nike with my name on it and be somewhat next to these names that are also associated with Nike. That’s a real cool thing and for kids out there who feel like for whatever reason, their economic background, the color of their skin or whatever, who might think that those types of things are holding them back. I’m excited to help inspire them to show them like hey, none of that stuff actually matters. Those are only barriers in your own mind. If you really have a dream, you’ll figure out a way to get it no matter what, and that’s a good feeling. Coming up as I started making it in skateboarding, getting a little bit of a name, I was so young, I wasn’t thinking about like “oh, I’m somebody they can be proud of.” I was busy being selfish like I just want to become a pro skater, I just want to become the best that I can be and be recognized as one of the greats. Fortunately, being so laser focused on that had side effects of influencing other Latino skaters, so that’s a blessing.
What kind of beating does your body take on a typical day, and how much do you worry about falling?
I would say on a typical day I hit the ground more often than I land a trick. It’s pretty common sometimes, every try until you land it. But fortunately I’ve been doing this long enough to where I’ve developed a really good technique of rolling and tumbling and kind of safe falling. But yeah on a typical skate session you get pretty worn out. I call them jello legs sometimes after a long session. When I was younger I could take a beating all day long and do it every single day no problem, but now I have to take it least one, maybe two days off a week to let my body recuperate, go to the chiropractor and get treated and readjusted, ice up and those types of things. Stretching is key. But your body develops a certain stamina and resilience that you can take more than probably somebody who doesn’t skateboard.
What’s the longest you’ve been off a skateboard because of an injury?
Three weeks to a month. Nothing serious, thank God. Anytime I’ve had a sprained ankle, that’s usually what takes the longest.
How many tricks have you invented yourself and are there any you’re still trying to perfect?
There’s an infinite amount of tricks that you’re chasing and always try to learn because you can never learn everything. As far as inventing it’s hard for me to take claim for inventing anything. I’ve done certain combinations of tricks that may not have been done when I did them, but that’s just combining two existing tricks and putting my twist on them. Kind of like if you play guitar, you don’t necessarily invent any chords because they are all there now, but the combination in which you use these chords and create the melodies and songs and whatever you create with those chords are original.
What’s the scariest or most dangerous place you’ve ever done a trick?
That’s a hard question to answer because there are so many spots where I’ve been terrified. Usually handrails for me are the scariest. Anything above 10 stairs starts getting really scary. Big gaps going over these rails are always a real adrenaline rush. Things of that nature always get the heart beating pretty fast.
Do you feel like you’re still at the top of your game, and is there a shelf life in skateboarding?
There’s absolutely a shelf life as far as what your prime abilities are. But I think I still think I have some good years of what are my prime abilities left so I’m looking forward to capitalizing on those. But I still have friends who are well into their 40s who still skate because once you start skating, whether you’re still at your peak or not, you just can’t help but do it. Even if you just push around and do some basic moves, it’s just a sense of freedom that you always have to keep in your life. I hope to God, barring any unanticipated serious injury, that will allow me not to walk or anything, I’ll be skating well into my 50s, maybe even when I touch 60 I’ll still be able to roll around. That’s what I’m hoping for.
Chris Sosa is RedEye’s sports editor. @redeyesportschi
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