ProRodeo Sports News February 16, 2024

roping steers, bulls, and horses. Then I got to put it all together. I never turned back after that. That became my goal, to be the best I could be at it. I never missed not competing in calf roping because I was so fulfilled picking up.” By nature, Edwards prefers bold over basic. He is an entrepreneur, managing everything from restaurants to car repair shops to rental properties. He is also a pilot and a former triathlete. He embraces challenges with a bear hug. So, perhaps it should come as no surprise that Edwards turned his fill-in job into a remarkable career. The 45-year old served in the role for 25 years, dropping the curtain on his career at the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo, which concluded Feb. 3. Pickup men serve as guardian angels in the arena. What played out over the last two decades plus still leaves Edwards shaking his head over his blessings. He has worked two NFRs in 2014 and 2023 and captured 2023 PRCA Pickup Man of the Year honors. “I sure would have signed up for this when I first started. But I would have never believed it,” Edwards said. “I went from aspiring to making a circuit finals to maybe the NFR. I wanted to retire at Fort Worth. I made that last NFR, and it was a great storybook ending for me.” Edwards reached the pinnacle of his profession through rolled up sleeves. He enjoyed every bit of his role from working with the animals to helping the competitors and contractors. A pickup man’s job is different from those behind the chutes. They work events from start to finish, forming lifelong relationships. “Those friendships mean everything,” Edwards said. Being a pickup man is not as easy as it sounds. They live in the margins; an insurance clause cowboys hope they never need. But their skill makes the adrenaline events safer as they can ease a competitor off a bucking horse to avoid injury or further damage to a body part. It is not for the meek. “I think you must love it. There are a lot of aspects that come into play: horsemanship, being able to read livestock and handle the rope and situational awareness in the arena. And you have to anticipate something going wrong,” Edwards said. “Experience matters. You can start to see things happening and move into position to help. But ultimately you have to have a passion for it. For me, it didn’t matter if it was raining, snowing, muddy or 118 degrees. When I rode into that arena with chaps on and those horses started bucking, I loved it.” His job evolved into greater joy as his sons, 16-year-old Blevin and 13-year-old Brinnon, became involved in the sport. They attended the NFR to watch their father in 2014 but were too little to remember it. The 2023 event was different. “To get voted to the NFR and to be blessed to get voted pickup man of the year in my 25th year, I thought there was no better way to go out,” Edwards said. “Those are the only two awards we can get. And to have my family there as I got those accolades, I couldn’t ask for anything better.” It made it easy to step away. But not from competing. Edwards remains busy. While he has left the arena, save for one event – he will pick up at The American Rodeo – he has not left rodeo. Edwards serves on the PRCA executive council, representing contract personnel, specialty acts, photographers, and labor. “I will keep that position as long as they keep voting me in,” said Edwards, who grew up on a ranch in Waco, Texas. Given his sprawling business interests over a roughly 150-mile swath, Edwards would be forgiven for channeling his energy into his 9-to-5 schedule. However, his thirst for competition has not left him. Once an athlete, always an athlete. In between helping his sons follow their dreams – Blevin wants to

PRCA ProRodeo file photo

become a commercial pilot and Brinnon aims for a rodeo career – Edwards is training for the Mongol Derby. This is a race in name only. It is a mental and physical test of a competitor’s will, billing itself as the longest and toughest race in the world. It lasts for 10 days and covers 1,000 kilometers. Edwards, already in shape, is shrinking to get ready for the event that requires a $17,000 entry fee, which covers the use of 25 horses trained by 250 herders. “I am having to really work out. I have to drop about 20 pounds to qualify for the race requirements. I am kind of small as it is, but I am going to get down to a jockey size,” Edwards said. “Back in 2020, I found out about it. I saw it as another way to test myself. And this is definitely that, from the horsemanship, navigation, and survival aspect. A good friend once told me that if you stop testing yourself, you get weak. I think about that all the time. That’s my personality, to push myself to the limits whether it’s in business or adventure.” There is always a new challenge for Edwards. He grew up learning to work hard, to never have regrets. For 25 years, he was charged for picking up cowboys. In the end, it might have been the other way around. “It was unbelievable experience for myself and my family to go the NFR. To have my boys there, they understand the effort, time, and sacrifice to get to that moment,” Edwards said. “It’s something I will never forget. It’s something I absolutely loved.”

ProRodeo Sports News 2/16/2024

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