ProRodeo Sports News June 14th, 2019

Bareback rider heating up with summer season IN HIS WORDS JAKE BROWN

M an, it’s tough to make the Finals every year. You’ve got to be around people who have a good attitude, that have the same want-to you have and who can push through when times get hard. You know what to expect and you rodeo hard all year long. Rodeo does feel like it’s year-round. Our biggest break is before our biggest event, the

Kissimmee, Fla., and have been plucking along since. But Denver, Fort Worth (Texas) and San Antonio were terrible. I started as bad as I ever have, but it’s turned around quickly. I would say the week before Kissimmee I went to some local, Texas rodeos and rode well. So when I went to Kissimmee I was ready and it lit a fire under me. After my ride at Clovis (Calif., Rodeo), I got

Jake Brown is gunning for his fifth consecutive trip to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. After a slow winter, the 29-year-old from Cleveland, Texas, has gotten hot. As of June 13, Brown had climbed to 12th in the PRCA | RAMWorld Standings with $40,206, boosted by winning the Woodward (Okla.) Elks Rodeo, June 5-8. After missing most of May with a groin injury, Brown is healed and fresh and ready for the summer run.

National Finals Rodeo. October and November are slow, but I still try to get on some horses. I don’t get on a bunch. The only time we get a big break is the end of the regular season and before the NFR. You get to heal up. My dad, Paul, is the coach at Hill College and I’ll get on some horses there or I have a good buddy who owns horses. I don’t get on them three times a week like when we are rodeoing, but I’ll get on once a week or so. Qualifying for the NFR is like a dream come true every year you do it. It’s what you looked up to when you were a little kid and now, you’re actually living that dream. I don’t think it could ever get old. Every time you make it, you’re so excited. I don’t feel any more pressure to get back there than I’ve felt before. I’ve heard people say it’s easier after you’ve made it the first time, but I don’t think it’s any easier. I guess you know what it takes, but it’s not any easier. My winter was the worst I’ve ever had. Then I started turning it on in March. I had a good (RAMNational Circuit Finals Rodeo)

off and my groin got sore. I let it heal up for a month. I feel great. I’m ready for it. If a guy has been to too many rodeos, he can get sour or down. That hasn’t happened to me. I’m chomping at the bit. I travel with Trey Moore III (25 years old) and Zach Hibler (22). We have a blast. Everybody picks on each other, we all have good attitudes, it makes rodeo fun. I feel like an old pops. Zach calls me Pops. I like going with the young guys. They stay hungry. I do all the entering but I make them watch and learn. My wife, Nicole, and I are expecting our first child in December, during the NFR. I’ve told her she’ll have to hold it in. Yeah, we all want to get to the Finals, but the main goal is you have to have fun while you’re doing it. One day you’re not going to do it anymore. You might gripe about a six-hour drive, but when you’re retired, you’re going to wish you were doing it again. So, soak up every minute and never get down and never whine too much about anything.

ProRodeo Sports News 6/14/2019

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