Outlaw Ready to Make his Unleash the Beast 2021 Debut in Fort Worth
By: Justin Felisko
PUEBLO, Colo. – Not one, not two, but five different reconstructive shoulder surgeries.
That is the battle that Chase Outlaw has been fighting since February 21, 2015, when he sustained his first shoulder injury on the PBR’s premier series. At the time, Outlaw was 24 years old and the No. 9-ranked bull rider in the world standings.
Outlaw was attempting to ride Sinful Nature inside Kansas City’s Sprint Center six years ago when the bull bucked him off and tore his right rotator cuff.
“Oh yeah, I still remember,” Outlaw said earlier this month. “I remember how bad that son of a gun hurt, too. This month is six years since then? Dang, that’s crazy.”
This past Sunday was the sixth anniversary of Outlaw’s first shoulder injury. No one, including Outlaw, could have predicted then what would eventually ensue. Four more shoulder injuries and four more reconstructive surgeries (three on his left and one on his right), including his latest left shoulder surgery this past August.
Outlaw has only had two seasons since 2015 not be interrupted or delayed because of shoulder surgery – 2017 & 2019.
Through it all, Outlaw has remained steadfast in bouncing back from all of the adversity, as well as battling for a world title. That journey begins its next chapter this coming weekend at the PBR Can-Am Invitational in Fort Worth, Texas, at the Cowtown Coliseum.
Outlaw will make his 2021 premier series season debut on Friday night in Round 1 against Manaba (1-0, UTB). Manaba is one of the early standouts in this year’s ABBI Classic pen of bulls and bucked off Cody Jesus in 3.41 seconds in Del Rio, Texas, two weeks ago.
The last time Outlaw competed on the Unleash The Beast was at the 2019 PBR World Finals when he capped a career year with a third-place finish in the world standings.
“I believe we are ready to dive back into the belly of the beast,” Outlaw told PBR.com.
Fans can watch Outlaw’s return to the UTB on RidePass on Friday at 9 p.m. ET and CBS Sports Network Saturday at 10:30 p.m. ET.
Outlaw tested out his shoulder in his first live competition in six months on Feb. 13 by going 1-for-2 (11th place overall) at the Greg Orr Classic presents The Four States PBR Shootout in Texarkana, Arkansas.
“Whatever soreness I have now, we don’t know if it will be there forever or not,” he said. “We don’t know if I have hit the ceiling of my recovery or not. We just have to keep on going on.”
Outlaw, who attempted a career-high 156 bulls at all levels in 2019, was expected to compete for a world title last season before he learned after the 2019 World Finals that he needed reconstructive surgery on his left shoulder. He missed the first six months of the season before making his 2020 debut at the Rocksprings, Texas, Touring Pro Division event. He then injured his left shoulder again a week later during the Fourth of July Whitesboro Pro Rodeo in Texas.
Outlaw admitted it is hard for him to even remember how his shoulder felt before his summer surgery. Maybe he rushed back too soon following his post-2019 Finals surgery. Maybe he didn’t.
“I can’t remember what it was like,” Outlaw said. “I came back in July, but maybe I still had what I have now. Like my physical therapist said, there were two catastrophic events that happened to it, and who is even to say it was 100% healed whenever I dislocated it again in July.”
Outlaw has needed surgery on his left shoulder three times since the end of the 2015 season, and his right shoulder has been repaired twice since he first tore his rotator cuff in Kansas City.
Five-time PBR World Finals qualifier and RidePass contributor Colby Yates said Outlaw might need a few events to get rolling, but once he shows up, you can bet on him being ready to win.
“It might take Chase a little bit,” Yates said in January. “He has been off for a long time, and that is to be expected, but don’t think that fire won’t be there. It will be.”
Physical therapy has been a crucial part of Outlaw’s rehab process in these last 15 months. He has been working multiple days a week with Dr. Nat Grubbs at South Arkansas Rehabilitation since the end of the 2019 PBR World Finals.
“That is when I first went up there,” Outlaw said. “I never knew about him. I don’t know how I didn’t know about him. They just never had to advertise, and it’s word of mouth. They work with a lot of elderly people, but they also work with all the athletes from the University of Arkansas Monticello. I don’t know how I didn’t know about him. He stays so busy I guess I’d never seen or heard about him.”
Outlaw said not only did Grubbs focus on his shoulder but also his overall conditioning and well-being. Most of the training was based on his body weight and using an elliptical and resistance bands rather than weight training.
“I consider him the Tandy (Freeman) of physical therapy down here,” Outlaw said. “I wish I would have discovered him after my very first surgery I ever had. All around, he is the best therapist I ever had. Not taking nothing away from the other therapists and therapy places I have been to, but we had a connection, and we just lined it out. We can actually talk and discuss what I am feeling a lot better than I ever have before. It is good to have somebody like that.”
Outlaw will maintain his rehab process even now that he is back in action, something he has never done consistently following his past surgeries.
The eight-time PBR World Finals qualifier missed the entire first half of the 2016 season before returning in May and storming back for a 14th overall finish in the world standings. 2017 was then an even better breakout year for Outlaw as he finished sixth in the world standings. He appeared poised for a world title run in 2018 until he shredded his right shoulder again during the championship round of the 2017 World Finals following a 90.5-point ride on Indian Medicine.
Outlaw has become accustomed to bouncing back from his shoulder surgeries, not to mention his horrific wreck at Cheyenne Frontier Days in 2018, and he wants to put an end to his shoulder saga by making sure he is always rehabbing and keeping his shoulder in the best shape possible.
“You can’t just come back, and once you get back, stick with just riding,” Outlaw said. “You have to continue the rehab. That is something I didn’t do after my prior surgeries is to continue to exercise and strengthen up once I came back.”
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko
Photo courtesy of Josh Homer/Bull Stock Media
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