Wrangler National Finals Rodeo Profile – Boudreaux Campbell
The most powerful thing you can do in life is to make a decision. The moment Boudreaux Campbell decided riding bucking bulls was his job – his world changed.
Heading to his first PRCA Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in the number 14 position is Boudreaux Campbell from Crockett, Texas who won $5,282 in the final PRCA qualifying weekend and moved up from 16 to 14 to secure the PRCA’s Resistol Rookie of the Year title as well.
Campbell’s 2017 PRCA earnings thus far are $88,063 and CBR checks total $75,738.50. His combined earnings for his first year as a pro are already at $163,738.50, but the best is yet to come – with over a $1,100,000 million dollars sitting in the PRCA’s bank for the NFR bull riding payout – you can bet Boudreaux Campbell isn’t done yet.
A defining moment is a point in your life when you’re urged to make a pivotal decision, or when you experience something that fundamentally changes you. Not only do these moments define us, but they have a transformative effect on our perceptions and behaviors – proof ahead.
In his first fourteen months as a professional, Campbell won four CBR event championships and seven PRCA Champion titles. In retrospect, these defining moments in his career both happened in South Dakota, some 1,027 miles away from his Texas home.
Interestingly South Dakota seems to be where the story starts and ends for Campbell. Somewhere between his first CBR event in 2016, the Red Wilks Construction Bull Bash in Huron, SD, and the last PRCA event in September in Sioux Falls – he developed into a career athlete.
“I really felt like a professional for the first time when I won the CBR event in Hobbs, for six months I had been working towards that goal and it finally happened,” said Campbell who was the 2016 Tuff Hedeman Hobbs CBR Champion, an event that was also won by PRCA World Champion Cody Teel and NFR qualifier Brennon Eldred.
The 5’11, 155 pound left handed cowboy rode 47 percent of his bulls in 2017 and 46 percent in 2016.
Moments that cultivated and distinguished the young athlete – Campbell was the two time Texas High School rodeo champion, (2015, 2016) and the Texas Junior High School bull riding champion at twelve years of age with former bull riding father, Jay Campbell, always at his side.
“My Dad always told me when I was riding in youth to give it 110 percent every time, and get my head out of my butt,” chuckled Campbell and – and it seems he learned both of those lessons well.
Campbell entered the CBR as an 18 year old high school senior with the drive and determination of a seasoned bull rider. He advanced to the Road to Cheyenne pro tour for the first time in Huron South Dakota after qualifying in the CBR Horizon Series – fifteen months later he is the leader of the 2017-18 CBR World Standings and has won two events of the 2017-18 Road to Cheyenne tour season which resumes in January.
The moment you meet Boudreaux Campbell the first thing you notice is the grin, but quickly thereafter when you speak to him you are aware of the “no quit” attitude. Whether it’s riding bulls, signing autographs with fans, graduating early from high school and then continuing his education at Panola College, Campbell never gives up.
A freshman at Panola College, Campbell is team roping and riding bulls competing in the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association for the East Texas College which is known for producing high profile bull riders.
With a full schedule of 132 rodeos, Campbell fell behind in the late stages of the NFR qualifying game and had to ride and win at the Park City, Kansas rodeo where CBR bullfighter Brandon Loden said he put on an incredible show riding and winning with the fortitude and calmness of a rider much older than he really is.
“I just had to clear my head and follow my process, you have one job, which is ride every bull you get on for the required 8 seconds,” said Campbell.
What moments will you take with you to the NFR?
“Competing against Sage Kimzey – I mean he brings out the best in me, to be the best you have to beat the best – competing against the best every weekend sometimes, you get sick and tired of losing and you dig down deep,” said Campbell.
When did you realize you could qualify for your first Wrangler National Finals Rodeo?
“I looked up before the summer run rodeos started and I was in the top 20
How did you plot your NFR run?
“Didn’t know if I was going to have a chance so we looked at the rodeo book, started by entering the rodeos with the most money, then looked for one that was close to that one that I could get to in a nearby city, sometimes that meant finding one that had an airport and then just going hard knowing we weren’t going to give up.”
What skill did you learn on the road this year?
“Google Maps”
Who is your sports idol?
“Tom Brady, he overcame unbelievable odds to win a Super Bowl – he never quits.”
What was the defining moment of the season?
“Sioux Falls, SD rodeo, it was the last one, a championship Challenge event, I only got in because Shane Proctor drew out and I had to do good and win some money.”
Who are you watching or listening to on Game Day?
Texas A & M Aggies on Saturday and the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday
What was your most difficult moment?
“Sometimes you feel like you have not ridden a bull in a year – you just have to keep going, don’t quit. It is the hardest thing ever – to keep going but you do.”
What is your advice to the next class of rookies?
“The bulls, it’s really different in what you are used to getting on, you have to get a feel for it, and then go hard.”
And while those titles and statistics are impressive, it’s those iconic moments — not only in the arena, but in the practice pen, at home, in the truck, and sometimes in front of my microphone — that tell the full story of The Rookie.
2017 PRCA Highlights
• Won the Cave Creek (Ariz.) Rodeo Days
• Won the Wichita Falls (Texas) PRCA Rodeo
• Won the Bandera (Texas) PRCA Rodeo
• Won the Central Wyoming Fair & Rodeo (Casper, Wyo.)
• Won the Othello (Wash.) PRCA Rodeo
• Co-champion at the Dodge City (Kan.) Xtreme Bulls Division 2 event
• Co-champion at the PRCA Championship Rodeo title (Park City, Kan.)
CBR Highlights
Hobbs Tuff Hedeman CBR Champion, 2017
Salina, KS CBR Champion, 2017
Navajo Nation CBR, Window Rock Champion, 2017
Conroe Bull Mania Champion, 2017
Courtesy of CBR