2023 PRCA Media Guide - All Chapters

2022 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 2022, he returned for his 10th consecutive appearance. He’s also won PRCA Bullfighter of the Year three years in a row. “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 is a dream come true. It was everything I thought it would feel like that first year 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 from you, which is good because those bulls are on their game.”

Dusty Tuckness - Bullfighter They say the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo gets in your blood. After 14 consecutive years (2009-2022) working as a bullfighter at ProRodeo’s biggest event, Dusty Tuckness is thoroughly infected with Wrangler NFR fever. “One of my goals since I was a kid has always been to go to the Finals, and another is to beat the records of other bullfighters who have gone there,” said Tuckness.“To go once is an achievement, to go 14 times like Joe Baumgartner (13 consecutive, 14 overall), that was the ultimate goal. I want to push forward and get myself into their category.” But Tuckness is driven by more than competitive fire.

“I try to be as consistent as I can, do my job day-in and day-out, and hope that will lead to a good outcome at the end of the year. Every year I get to go back, it means I’ve been consistent, and the bull riders trust me and want to see me in the arena, so to keep going back is a real honor.”Tuckness always knows going in that he’ll get a little beaten up at the Wrangler NFR, but it’s all part of the sport as far as he’s concerned. “Rodeo is a game where there’s not a set pattern,” Tuckness said. “When guys are riding for world championships, they tend to hang on a little longer, and that can put them in a more hazardous spot when they hit the ground. And some of the new bulls have some hook to them. But I always go in thinking that every bull is the meanest one around, because I want to be on guard and always ready to take the shot for the cowboy if needed.”

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BULLFIGHTERS, CLOWNS AND BARRELMEN