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Campbell Embracing the Spotlight as Rookie of the Year Race Intensifies

By: Justin Felisko

ARLINGTON, Texas – Boudreaux Campbell hung his bull rope on a steel fence inside the locker room and sat down on a bench a few feet away.

Campbell was all by his lonesome and was in the process of some self-meditation, visualizing himself conquering the rankest bulls in the PBR on the world’s greatest stage.

AT&T Stadium features a spacious primary locker room for the Top 39 bull riders in the world, as well as additional locker rooms to allow the contestants plenty of room to socially distance before competing at the richest bull riding event in the world.

Instead of being near any of his buddies, Campbell made sure to find a private area for himself to prepare. The 22-year-old wanted to make sure he was 100% focused on making a run at the World Finals event title and its $300,000 payday.

So far so good for Campbell two days into the PBR World Finals.

He is a perfect 2-for-2 heading into his Round 3 matchup against Safety Meeting (12-7, UTB/METC), and he is sitting in third place in the event average.

“I’m pumped to be here,” Campbell said. “I think I ought to be here, and I like getting on the rankest bulls in the world.”

 
Campbell is competing at his first PBR World Finals after only riding part-time in the PBR this season as he was primarily focused on making a run at the PRCA bull riding championship.

The No. 3-ranked bull rider in the PRCA began the PBR World Finals ranked No. 33 in the world standings, but he is not your stereotypical rookie.

Campbell has evolved into a PRCA World Champion contender this year, riding 41% of his bulls in the PRCA. He is only $6,588.63 behind current No. 1 Sage Kimzey, and that comes with a heightened level of expectation for him on the PBR circuit.

However, Campbell said he is not worried about outside perspectives.

Rather, he holds himself to a higher standard than anyone else can or will.

“I keep myself accountable,” Campbell said. “I think I should ride better than anybody else around here going. That’s just me. I’m a little bit different, I feel like, anyway. I’m not trying to brag or anything, but I just like to consider myself better than anybody else there is. I want to be the very best in the world, and that’s what I’m going to go for.”

Campbell is the only bull rider in the world to have qualified for both the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo and the PBR World Finals this year.

“It’s pretty cool,” Campbell said. “I now know what Daylon (Swearingen) feels like. It’s a good feeling, and I’m definitely excited for these next couple months.”

Swearingen was the only bull rider last year to qualify for the NFR and PBR World Finals.

Campbell is from Crockett, Texas. He attended Lovelady High School, which is less than three hours away from Arlington, and he is a two-time Texas High School State Champion bull rider.

“Oh, it’s really fun,” Campbell said of competing in his home state. “I’ve got a lot of family that are going to be watching and coming, and so it’s going to be awesome. I’ve got my dad and my stepmom going to be coming each night.”

On Sunday, Campbell, a lifelong Dallas Cowboys fan, can make further history at the home of the Cowboys if he can win the World Finals event average.

Five rookies in PBR history have won the World Finals, including current world No. 1 Jose Vitor Leme in 2017. The other four to win the World Finals event average are Ronnie Kitchens (1996), Luke Snyder (2001), Jody Newberry (2003) and Cooper Davis (2015).

Davis is the only rider in that group to not also win Rookie of the Year with his World Finals victory.

Campbell is certainly in contention for the top rookie honors in 2020, and a Finals event win would put him a great position to usurp current No. 1 Cole Melancon.

Melancon holds a 131.34-point lead on Campbell in the Rookie of the Year race. Melancon is 1-for-2 at the World Finals following his 88.75-point effort on Sugar Boom Boom in Round 2.

No. 2 rookie Alex Cerqueira rode Secret Weapon for 89 points in Round 2. Cerqueira is only 45 points behind Melancon.

Campbell expects it to be a fierce battle to the finish, and he is up for the challenge.

“I’ve been thinking about it,” Campbell said. “I’m just going to do my job and ride my bulls, and we’ll let everything else take care of itself. But I’m just going to show up and get on my bulls, 8 seconds each bull, and that’s all I can do.”

Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko

Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media

© 2020 PBR Inc. All rights reserved.

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