Kimzey: ‘The Bright Lights of the Global Cup Won’t Intimidate Daylon’

By: Justin Felisko

ARLINGTON, Texas – Team USA Eagles coach Justin McBride was at home watching the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo on Tuesday night with his son, Jax, when the dark injury cloud hovering over his 2020 Global Cup USA squad once again struck with lightning.

Six-time PRCA champion Sage Kimzey was in the process of making a qualified ride on an underperforming 84D when 84D proceeded to tip over, crushing Kimzey’s left leg and ankle after his 67-point ride.

“You have to be kidding me,” McBride said in disbelief to his son.

“Oh man, is he hurt?” Jax asked.

McBride remained optimistic, though, and said, “Surely it’s not bad. It is alright. It is alright.”

The four-time Team USA coach then let out a laugh late Wednesday night.

“I was lying to both of us,” McBride said just past 10 p.m. CT.

McBride has become numb to the recent turn of events for his Team USA Eagles squad that will hit the dirt in Arlington, Texas, on Saturday night when the 2020 WinStar World Casino and Resort Global Cup USA, presented by Monster Energy, gets underway.

Kimzey becomes the fourth member of McBride’s initial six-man roster that has had to drop out of the international team bull riding competition because of an injury.

The PBR announced on Thursday that McBride has selected No. 5 Daylon Swearingen to replace Kimzey on the Eagles.

“Daylon is a really, really talented guy,” McBride said. “Me and (assistant coach) J.W. (Hart) really felt like he had earned the right to be the first name called off everything. He has won an event this year. He won the Canadian Finals. He has been to the NFR. He has been to the PBR World Finals. He has done a lot of really good things.

“On a different team, he would be the first pick. Daylon is a really, really talented young guy. Probably my favorite thing, other than the big highlight reel he is, is how hard he tries. No one gets stomped on more than Daylon because he does not let go. You cannot ask for more than that. There may be some little technical things here and there that he will need to work on, but the guts and determination are there. You can never ask for more than that.”

Swearingen was headed out to a PRCA rodeo in Jackson, Mississippi, yesterday afternoon when McBride called him to let him know Kimzey was officially out for the Global Cup.

The 20-year-old went 0-for-1 in Jackson, but he had plenty of time to think about the opportunity that awaits him this weekend in Arlington during his 4-hour drive back to Carthage, Texas, late Wednesday night on I-20.

“I am pretty excited to be asked to step up and do it,” Swearingen said. “I was actually going to go to (the Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour event in) Memphis, Tennessee, and I have some family there. I was going to go straight to Georgia, and hang out with some family there, and then go to Memphis. I guess I was not supposed to go to Georgia to see my family.”

There was a slight hope that Kimzey may have escaped San Antonio unscathed.

Kimzey said that X-rays were negative on his ankle Tuesday night in San Antonio, but that he knew something was not right once he woke up on Wednesday morning in a lot of pain. An MRI later showed he has a syndesmosis ankle injury, which is a ligament injury in between the tibia and fibula.

“It is not exactly ideal, for sure,” Kimzey said Thursday morning. “It is part of it, and we all know stuff happens. To miss an event like the Global Cup due to injury, that is not exactly what I had dreamt about, for sure.”

Kimzey explained that he knew he would not be able to perform to the level necessary to help the Eagles win their first Global Cup title since 2017.

“It hurts bad enough that I would have been a detriment to the team if I tried to ride,” Kimzey said. “There are some injuries that you can ride with, and some that you can’t. This is one of them that I wouldn’t be able to perform good enough at all. At that point, someone else has to take my spot.”

 
According to Kimzey, the injury is similar to the one Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa sustained in October against Tennessee. Tagovailoa underwent tightrope surgery and returned to the football field in two weeks.

Kimzey will undergo surgery Friday and is hopeful he can be back riding in two weeks.

McBride said it is important for a rider to know his limitations when it comes to an injury.

“I appreciate it from a guy. If they don’t think they can help the team and don’t want to hurt the team, I appreciate that, honestly,” McBride said. “I don’t want him to show up and fake it and not be able to go. I need them to show up physically and mentally believing they are good to go.”

Kimzey said he is confident in Swearingen’s ability to help lead the Americans to victory.

Last year, Swearingen became the youngest bull rider (19) in history to qualify for the NFR and PBR World Finals in the same season.

The Piffard, New York, bull rider is 9-for-19 on the Unleash The Beast this season, and he won the Chicago Invitational last month.

“Daylon is a good replacement,” Kimzey said. “He is a young kid that has done a lot and accomplished a lot already in a very young career. The bright lights of the Global Cup won’t intimidate Daylon. He adds another element. Me and Daylon aren’t exactly the same style of bull riders, but he brings in a total different style that McBride can match up with a different style of bull.

“I think he will do more than an adequate job stepping in and filling my injury spot.”

Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko

© 2020 PBR Inc. All rights reserved.