2023 PRCA Media Guide - Announcers, Barrelmen, Bullfighters and Specialty Acts

2022 WRANGLER NFR PERSONNEL

John Harrison – Barrelman John Harrison worked the barrel at ProRodeo’s premier championship last year for the eighth time (2013, 2015-16, 2018-22), meaning he’d earned his eighth 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 (55th) 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, the NFR 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.” In 2022, Harrison was chosen as Comedy Act of the Year, Man in the Can and PRCA Clown/Barrelman of the Year.

Bryce Redo - Bullfighter Bryce Redo began his ProRodeo career as a bullfighter in 2020 and just two years later he was representing the sport on the biggest stage. Redo was selected for the first time as a bullfighter to work the 2022 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo presented by Teton Ridge. For Redo, it was a dream that began as a child, but one he didn’t see come to fruition until later in his life. “I rode bulls for a while, but figured out that wasn’t my calling pretty quickly,” said Redo, on his decision to become a bullfighter.“I started fighting bulls pretty soon after that and the rest is history.”

Redo stepped on the dirt at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas for the first time on Dec. 1. He said it was a rush of emotion that’s second to none, but once he’s adrenaline took over it was back to business as usual.“There’s no match to the adrenaline we get out there on the dirt,” he said. “I guess, the only thing that might come close is getting in a car wreck. To be able to go in there and move an animal and control him and protect the rider is a feeling unlike any other.” Redo hopes there’s more trips to the biggest show in rodeo in his future. “I have a lot of rodeoing left in front of me and I hope this is only the beginning of what will be a long and successful career fighting bulls in ProRodeo.”

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2023 PRCA MEDIA GUIDE