Jerome Davis, Carolina Cowboys Recognize Risk, Reward in World’s Most Dangerous Sport

By: James Youness

PUEBLO, Colo. – In professional bull riding, no two riders have the same story.

They’ve got similar backgrounds and all sorts of lowest common denominators as Western-forward, farmhouse-loving humans. Caring for animals, neighbors and ranches of their own, while each carves their unique path to greatness, both in the arena and during the work week.

Big on family, community and winning.

But when it comes time to load into those chutes every weekend, perhaps the biggest element they share and embrace together is their health: All capable, and willing, to risk it all for a shot at a gold buckle and the opportunity to provide for their family.

“Bull riding is a very, very dangerous sport. It’s the only sport where when you hit the grand slam or score the touchdown, you can still get killed trying to exit the arena,” PBR CEO and Commissioner Sean Gleason shares in the early moments of The Ride’s Episode 2: Comeback Kings.

“Bulls are unpredictable animals, and some of them want to hit you.”

As the eight-part series continues to give fans a behind-the-scenes look into the conversations, sacrifices and beyond displayed throughout training camps, locker rooms and even within the chutes themselves, you don’t have to be around the arena long to realize how dangerous each and every out can potentially be.

“Bull riding is one of the most dangerous sports in the world because every time an athlete crawls onto the back of a bull, he’s risking his life,” PBR Medical Director Dr. Tandy Freeman said.

“You’re going to see the same sorts of things you see in motor vehicle accidents. If it can be done to the human body, in terms of injury, you can see it in bull riding.”

Continuing to unravel some of the most impactful, yet touching, stories in PBR history, one of the organization’s legends weighed in on the sport’s seriousness during the opening frames, later detailing a life-changing wreck of his own.

“In 1993, we took a picture of the Top 15 guys in the world. Two of them guys got killed riding bulls and I got paralyzed, so it just shows you how tough this sport really is,” Carolina Cowboys Head Coach Jerome Davis offered.

“I don’t think people realize, in eight seconds, how your life can change.”

Three different powerful quotes from three different, longtime members of the PBR; each who have witnessed the organization evolve in 30 years of greatness, but each who also recognizes the risks and implications which come alongside chasing the revered 8-second run.

As the episode begins, the Cowboys’ head coach and his wife, Tiffany Davis, who also serves as the team’s assistant general manager, share the story of the PBR legend’s journey before getting banged up at just 25 years of age, which ultimately ended his riding career.

“When I woke up, my body was numb and I couldn’t move my arms,” Davis detailed.

“I’ve had some very serious injuries, but that time I knew it was something. I knew I might have messed up.”

An emotional Tiffany Davis depicted the next 24 hours like it was yesterday, before sharing the fact that nearly every rider from the PBR was in attendance at the hospital following Jerome’s wreck.

“The waiting room didn’t have a single spot open for anybody else, everybody had come there,” she said, wiping away a tear.

“It just shows how much these guys really do care for and love each other.”

After seeing the Cowboys struggle in Anaheim, California, courtesy of the team’s second rideless game in just two weekends of action, the team’s head coach wasn’t deterred.

“It ain’t how you lose, it’s how you bounce back, and we’re not going to let up from here on.”

Showing clips from the team’s preseason training camp involvement with the Navy Seals, it’s no surprise that Carolina would be ready for the perils of in-season challenges after enduring a couple of sessions with some of the country’s most hard-working and intelligent individuals.

“It’s more about trying to bring an edge to their game where when they go out there to ride a bull who’s bigger, stronger and faster, that they have the mindset where, ‘It doesn’t matter what you throw at me, I’m going to be ready to attack it and get it done,’” Cowboys’ General Manager Austin Dillon said during the training camp workout.

Setting up an episode based on different types of comebacks throughout the bull riding industry – including Austin Gamblers’ rider Ezekiel Mitchell, who gets another shot in the chutes after bucking off during his lone opportunity during the series’ first episode in Cheyenne, Wyoming, alongside the Oklahoma Freedom’s Eli Vastbinder, who suffered an injury during the opening weekend of PBR Team Series action, resilience runs deep amongst the world’s most talented bull riders.

 
“When it comes to bull riding, we tried to push him for years to do different things, tried other sports, and bull riding has always come back. So, me trying to talk him out of bull ridings … not going to happen,” Vastbinder’s father, Mike, shared with the filming crew as the father-son combo knocks out some tasks around the farm.

“It’s what he loves and it’s his passion. He’s not going to change and that’s why he’s good at it, it because it’s what he loves and it’s his life.”

Fans can tune into Episode 2 of the Amazon Prime-hosted series to learn more about the Davis family’s story, the triumphant return of Eli Vastbinder and all sorts of comeback moments during the inaugural season of PBR Team Series action, as the eight-park docuseries is officially available on Amazon Prime.

Photo courtesy of Todd Brewer/Bull Stock Media

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