PRORODEO Sports News - July 12, 2024

CONTRACT PERSONNEL

Kerri Tuckness photo

Darrell Diefenbach Bullfighter enshrined at ProRodeo Hall of Fame BY TANNER BARTH

“I just remem ber being a 17-year-old kid in Aus tralia getting up every day and going to work. I had my list of goals in my bedroom at home and they were each small steps, one at a time. I had the goal to the make the NFR and I got that done at 27.” – DARRELL DIEFENBACH

Rodeo, the Wrangler ProRodeo Tour Finals, and several marquee rodeos including Houston and Tucson, Ariz. There were a lot of memories that stood out to him when discussing his career, but overcoming adversity was at the top of the list. “The biggest thing that sticks out to me is all the injuries I went through to get to this point,” he said. “Throughout my career I probably only had three or four healthy years, where I wasn’t dealing with some injury. “There were days where it was tough to get out of bed and go do the same job as you did yesterday. I always looked at getting hurt as getting tougher. If it was easy I feel like everyone would do it. I bought my PRCA card and rodeoed every year to be the best.” His response was simple when asked how he reached the Hall of Fame summit. “I tell these kids who want to get their PRCA cards that first impressions are everything and you never get a second chance at a first impression. That made a huge difference for me when I came over to America,” Diefenbach said. “Never stop working because you never know what can be possible.”

D arrell Diefenbach came to the United States with a dream to be the best bullfighter in rodeo. It didn’t take long for what seemed like a far-fetched dream at one time to become a reality. Diefenbach’s journey to the PRCA began at the age of 24, just three years later he made his first of 12 trips to the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas. His longevity and success as a bullfighter parlayed into a ProRodeo Hall of Fame career. “A person can hope that if you put in dedication and enough hard work that hopefully it pays off someday. This really proves that,” said Diefenbach. “I just remember being a 17-year-old kid in Australia getting up every day and going to work. I had my list of goals in my bedroom at home and they were each small steps, one at a time. I had the goal to the make the NFR and I got that done at 27. Then my very last goal was to get put in the Hall of Fame. Now, here we are.” In addition to the big stage of the NFR, Diefenbach, a native Australian, also worked the National Circuit Finals

ProRodeo Sports News 7/12/2024

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