Davis Receives Good News About Broken Neck
By: Justin Felisko
PUEBLO, Colo. – Monopoly, gardening, coloring books and focusing on the launch of the family’s wedding/event venue Reign Hills have been just some of the ways 2016 World Champion Cooper Davis has been passing time with his wife, Kaitlin, and their son, Mack, nowadays.
Davis has been out of competition since he broke his neck during the season-opening Monster Energy Buck Off at the Garden in New York City on Jan. 5, and he has had to continue to remain at home like millions of Americans nationwide because of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak.
“I have really been quarantined since about November when I broke my wrist,” Davis said Monday afternoon. “I got to go to one place, and that was New York, and broke my neck. I have been a little bit of a teacher. We are about to plant a garden, and I don’t know. Kind of going back to having fun and playing quite a few board games. It has been really fun going back doing things I did when I was a child.
“We are spending a lot more quality family time. Out of all the bad you can take out of this coronavirus, I guess there is also a good in it, too. We are playing outside and having that type of fun.”
In regards to his broken neck, Davis was able to get some new scans done last week, and sent them over to Dr. Tandy Freeman and Dr. Andrew Dossett last week.
According to Davis, he appears to be on track for a return in June if the PBR is back to hosting events at that time.
“It’s doing really good,” Davis said. “I went back to the doctor this week and they gave me some good info on it. It is healing good, but it is not completely there yet. So I don’t know, hopefully by the time the PBR comes back I will be back in action, too.
“June is still very realistic as far (me) coming back.”
Davis has fallen to 30th in the world standings since finishing New York second in the 15/15 Bucking Battle and ninth overall in the event. Initial X-rays in January had shown no fracture, but a follow-up CT scan on Jan. 10 revealed that Davis had indeed broken his neck (C6) when he was bucked off by Midnight Rock in 2.79 seconds in Madison Square Garden.
The injury forced Davis to withdraw from the Team USA Eagles for the 2020 WinStar World Casino and Resort Global Cup USA, presented by Monster Energy, in February.
Two-time World Champion and head coach Justin McBride switched Davis to an assistant coach instead, and Davis was able to help the Eagles win their second Global Cup in three years in a new way.
“It was different,” Davis said. “I enjoyed every minute of it, but I would have liked to be riding at the same time. That event is always special to me. Regardless, if I was riding or not this year, I wanted to come out with USA on top, and we did that. It was really different, but I am still glad I got to be a part of it.”
Fans can watch a special 1-hour Global Cup show Sunday at 1 p.m. ET on CBS national television.
PBR Keep Riding 2020 PBR Global Cup, presented by Monster Energy, is a compilation of Championship Sunday of the 2020 PBR Global Cup. Craig Hummer is joined by McBride, and the four-time Global Cup coach will provide his insight on his team’s journey to win the coveted cup.
Team USA edged Team Australia by only 9.25 points and defending two-time champs Team Brazil by 88 points to become the first team to ever win a Global or World Cup on home soil.
Davis admitted it was not fun being forced into a coaching role because of an injury. The advantage, though, was that he could take his experience as a rider on the global stage and be a voice for the team.
The six-year pro has the most qualified rides in Global Cup history for Team USA with eight.
“It is tough, but at the same time, you have been a part of that situation before so it kind of eases the tension a little bit,” Davis said. “It takes one good bull ride to turn everything around. That is what really happened for us. We had a couple of moments where we were down and kind of kicking ourselves, but Jess (Lockwood) would step up and hit a home run or Cole (Melancon) would step up and swing and hit the fence, too.
“It was bittersweet not to be riding, but at the same time it was really cool to be a part of the coaching side of it, and kind of see the ups and downs and really kind of understand that it just takes one good bull ride to turn everything around, whether it is at a Global Cup or the regular season.”
The 26-year-old will continue to focus on making a return to competition in the near future. He will begin lightweight exercises at home, as well as a core workout routine, now that doctors have cleared him.
Beyond beginning his at-home rehab, Davis will continue to help Kaitlin with getting their second family business up and running. Kaitlin also owns Reign Lashes, a beauty supply company specializing in eyelashes.
“We always talked about it from the time we met,” Cooper said. “We always wanted to build a wedding venue, or an events center, whatever you want to call it. But it is something we can both be a part of. Something that is not necessarily an 8-5 job where you are working under someone else. It really fits into our schedule well. She is amazing at designing everything, and I am amazing at listening to her on what I need to do. That is just where it fits into our schedule and lifestyle.”
Cooper expects the venue in Kountze, Texas, to be ready for business later this summer, but he explained that it certainly has not been the easiest of times trying to open a business during a worldwide pandemic.
“It’s been difficult,” Davis said. “You have to keep all of your employees, or guys that are supposed to be out there building your building, you want to keep them safe. We are trying to have it as isolated as possible with certain groups of people being in there (not) at the same time. It has been a task for sure. We are doing good. I think we are still on track to finish when we need to. We have our first wedding booked for August, and we kind of already alerted them we are just kind of playing it by ear and waiting to see what is going to happen. I think everything will be in line, ready to go by that time.”
WATCH 2015 WORLD FINALS WEDNESDAY ON RIDEPASS
RidePass is airing Round 4 of the 2015 PBR World Finals for FREE Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET. J.B. Mauney clinched his second world title moments before riding three-time World Champion SweetPro’s Bruiser for 92.5 points in Round 4 that year at the Thomas & Mack Center.
Bruiser injured Mauney during the ride, though, and Mauney had to withdraw from the event on Championship Sunday.
That opened the door for Davis – a rookie who lost 24 pounds in less than three months – to ride Moto Moto for 85.75 points on Championship Sunday to take the Finals lead and become the fourth rookie to win the World Finals.
“It is hard to put into words how appreciative I was at that time, because I hadn’t won any big events at that time, and I didn’t have enough faith in myself to think it was possible,” Davis recalled. “Winning that 2015 Finals really gave me the confidence to really push for that World Championship the next year. I realized I could fit in the locker room with guys like J.B. Mauney and guys like that that I looked up to my whole life, so it was really special to me. It is still special to me. It is really neat to see the transformation in the confidence and the ability.”
Was Davis surprised when Mauney decided not to ride that Sunday at the Thomas & Mack Center?
“I was really surprised because J.B. is one of those guys that he can cut his arm off and still ride with the other one, or something like that,” Davis said. “Crazy. He is just a tough dude, and you never count that guy out as long as I am riding and he is riding. He is one of those guys that just has that special talent and toughness to go along with it. I was really surprised he wasn’t getting on that day.”
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko
© 2020 PBR Inc. All rights reserved.