2019 PRCA Media Guide - Barrelmen and Bullfighters

2018 Wrangler NFR Personnel

Cody Webster – Bullfighter Cody Webster joined the PRCA in February 2011 and less than two years later was selected by PRCA bull riders to work the Finals, which was “a huge honor,” Webster said. In 2018, he returned for his sixth consecutive appearance. “I used to watch the NFR in diapers, with my folks,”Webster said. “I’ve been dreaming about working it all my life, so it really was a dream come true. It was everything I thought it would feel like, but walking down that alley…you’ve got to times it by 100 to get close to what it really feels like. It’s very heart-touching.” Webster thinks that in 2013, at age 21, he was the youngest bullfighter ever to work the NFR.

“It was cool to go in there and show everybody what the young guys can do,” he said. “It was overwhelming with the first few bulls, but after that I just did what I’ve been doing all year – fighting bulls mentally correctly. With 18,000 people watching you, you don’t want to mess up.” Of course, that’s not the only unusual aspect of working that particular rodeo. Webster liked the arena size, as well. “Those aren’t the tightest quarters I’ve worked – I’ve worked some arenas that aren’t much bigger than a living room,” he said. “The (Thomas & Mack Center arena) is the perfect size, to me. It’s small enough that the situation won’t run away fromyou, which is good because those bulls are on their game.”

John Harrison – Barrelman John Harrison worked the barrel in the Thomas & Mack Center last year for the fourth time, meaning he’d earned his fourth Wrangler NFR buckle. But the one he wears most often doesn’t even have his own name on it – it was given to the bull riding average winner at the 1967 NFR. “This will be the (52th) year since my grandad rode Tornado,”says Harrison, recalling the storied night that Freckles Brown became the first man to last eight seconds on the fearsome bull. Back then, ProRodeo’s Super Bowl was held in Oklahoma City, and Harrison revisited the scene. “Those old chutes are still under the bleachers at the Jim Norick Arena – they’re under the bleachers, concreted in,”Harrison said. “We crawled in to see

them – it’s dark and dingy under there, but we used our cell phones for lights. It was neat to see where that happened. He got his gold buckles (Brown was also the 1962 world champion bull rider), and for me, that was winning Coors Man in the Can” for top barrelman in 2014 and 2016-17. Harrison said he thinks about his grandfather beforehand, behind the scenes, when he works the barrel at the Wrangler NFR. But once the rodeo starts, it’s all business – and at the Wrangler NFR, that means staying in the barrel to focus on safety, anticipating the exact second to start creeping toward the bull and rider. “Those guys are riding for so much money there – more than $25,000 a night, which could make a down payment on a ranch,” notes Harrison. “At any other rodeo, after every bull I’m out of the barrel, interacting with the crowd, but there, it’s about timing and safety and staying out of the way of the TV cameras.” His past experiences as aWrangler NFR Barrelman has helped calmhis nerves at the Finals, Harrison said. “Knowing what to expect lifts the pressure off your shoulders, so it’s more fun,” he said. “I know where I can be and what I can do.”

BULLFIGHTERS, CLOWNS AND BARRELMEN

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2019 PRCA MEDIA GUIDE