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Nance Appreciates Advice From 1982 PRCA Champion Charlie Sampson

By: Justin Felisko

PUEBLO, Colo. – The locker room inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena was relatively empty on Friday night as Round 1 of the PBR Las Vegas Invitational was well underway.

Eleven-time PBR World Finals qualifier Cody Nance had just ridden Lights Out for 82.75 points to end a streak of six consecutive buckoffs and was in the process of packing up his gear bag.

Then 1982 PRCA champion bull rider Charlie Sampson sat down in the chair next to him.

Sampson had pulled Nance’s bull rope in Round 1, and he spent some time this weekend offering up some advice to the 33-year-old PBR veteran.

Sampson may not attend every PBR event in person, but the 2004 PBR Ring of Honor inductee is an avid follower of the sport and often watches the top bull riding league in the world weekly on CBS Sports Network. When he is at an event, he often checks in with some riders if they are looking for a few tips.

Nance and Sampson have talked frequently before, and Sampson believed Nance could benefit from having a sounding board.

“I reminded him what I saw was that start,” Sampson told PBR.com Sunday during the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo, which will air on Saturday, June 19 at 1 p.m. ET on CBS national television. “That strong start. I saw he was missing that because, man, with the heart and try he has in himself, I wasn’t trying to tell him what to do when he gets ready to ride, but it is just that one-jump-at-a-time confidence that I try to instill in these bull riders.”

Sampson also knows it can be tough for a veteran bull rider who hasn’t tasted winning in quite some time.

It has been three years since Nance won his last premier series event – the 2018 Ty Murray Invitational.

“He just felt like I needed a reminder,” an appreciative Nance said. “He said, ‘Cody, you are a veteran. Ain’t nobody in here knows what’s going on in your mind or in your bull riding world.’ He said, ‘I watch you. I am a veteran. Somebody needs to remind you that you are just due for a win.’

“It was simple as that. He is a veteran, and he knows what he is talking about. It is cool to have somebody like that care about helping people in the sport still. I like that. Charlie loves bull riding, and I love bull riding. It is always nice to get to talk to somebody, especially a world champ, and somebody who’s been there, succeeded, and realized what it took to succeed at this level, and also had years to sit and let it simmer.”

 
In terms of the nuts-and-bolts side of bull riding, Sampson stressed to Nance that he needed to leave the chutes with a good seat.

“I told him, ‘Cody, get you a good seat, buddy. Get you a good seat,’” Sampson said. “‘That is all I see you are missing. You are just a little bit behind, so I want you to just get a good seat because you have the try and the effort.’”

Nance admitted that he is one of the few remaining old souls in the Unleash The Beast locker room. In fact, Nance is tied with Silvano Alves (11) for the most World Finals qualifications among riders currently on the Unleash The Beast.

The Paris, Tennessee, native is also seven premier series rides away from becoming the 20th rider in PBR history to record 300 or more qualified rides.

Nance missed the World Finals for the first time in his career last season because of nerve damage in his right shoulder and chronic hip dysplasia.

This year, though, Nance has battled his way back inside the Top 35, and he heads into the six-week UTB summer break as the No. 26-ranked bull rider in the world.

“My hip is still there,” Nance said. “It is attached. It is still doing its job for now. The PBR Sports Medicine crew is amazing, and they are keeping me mobile. I go in there all jacked up and ready to ride. They know the situation with my hip dysplasia, and they are willing to work with me. I am thankful for that, and I am thankful I am still able to keep going. I am blessed.”

Nance plans to compete at the Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour’s Tryon Chute Out on June 25-26 in Tryon, North Carolina, before riding at his own event in Paris, Tennessee, on July 2 – Allegros PBR in Paris by Cody Nance.

The fan-favorite will then rest his body until Last Cowboy Standing at Cheyenne Frontier Days on July 26-27.

 

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Nance appreciates receiving advice from previous generations of bull riders such as Sampson. The 2009 Rookie of the Year remembers how much he learned about energy, passion and cowboy grit from two-time World Champion Chris Shivers and 2012 Ring of Honor inductee Ross Coleman when he first made it to the premier series.

“Charlie is an amazing guy,” Nance said. “He has a great amount of energy. A lot of people don’t have that energy as much. People are distracted and focused on other things, the younger generation. You don’t talk about bull riding and breathe about it in the same way like the older men I met in 2009. That was a different group of guys: the Chris Shivers, Ross Colemans. Right after Adriano (Moraes) and Justin (McBride) retired, I made it on tour. All those guys sitting in the locker room had it on their minds. These guys, they love bull riding, but it is a different age. A different generation. For a veteran to approach me, it means something to me because they know what it is like.”

Sampson made the trip to Las Vegas to be a part of a historic weekend as the PBR co-produced the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo on Sunday.

CBS will air a one-hour special featuring highlights and event storylines on Saturday, June 19, at 1 p.m. ET. The Juneteenth television special will be the first time an all-Black rodeo has been broadcast on network television. Juneteenth is the date honoring the end of slavery in the United States and a celebration of the oldest African American holiday.

Sampson was once again offering advice to the contestants throughout the rodeo, something Nance said no one should take for granted.

“Every rider should talk to him,” Nance concluded. “Charlie is more than willing to talk to anybody who respectfully approaches him in regards to talk about bull riding.

“What does Charlie want to talk about? ‘I want to talk about bull riding!’ That is what Charlie always says.”

Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko

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