ProRodeo Sports News - October 1, 2021

WRANGLER NFR

“(Jesse Brown)’s run with it this year, his confidence is way higher. He’s rodeoing with good guys and riding a great horse of Curtis (Cassidy’s). When you’re doing that, you can just see the confidence. The winning grows and it all snowballs.” – OTE BERRY

That strategy has put Newman at his first NFR in December after earning more than $80,000 this season. “I don’t think it’s set in yet, it’s kind of been a blur all year long,” Newman said. Fellow NFR rookie Creek Young, a bull rider, is having the same experience. He won more than $130,000 this year to rank near the top of the PRCA | RAMWorld Standings. “I haven’t shown up yet, right now it just feels like I had a good year,” he said. “But I think once I get to Vegas and we get to that first round, it’ll hit.” Young’s good year caught the eye of four-time PRCA Bull Riding World Champion J.W. Harris. “That kid rides really good,” Harris said. Harris earned more than $2 million riding bulls in the PRCA and still shares the NFR record for most round wins in a single Finals at four, accomplishing that feat in 2010. “This year’s been a good one for him, and we’ll really find out what he’s made of come December,” Harris said. “If he can go in there and do what he’s done all year, he’s got a great chance.” Harris retired from competition in the spring, but Young still remembers Harris’ dominance inside the arena. “He’s definitely one of the guys I looked up to,” Young said. “I always watched rodeo and the NFR on TV but when you hit that age, like 12-14 years old, where you really pay attention and understand what’s happening, that’s when J.W. was always there and winning.” Young liked Harris’ style of riding. “He rode really correct and looked good on a bull,” Young said. “Plus, he was super tough.” Jesse Brown isn’t making his first appearance at the Wrangler NFR in 2021, but he said it kind of feels like it. Brown was among the Wrangler NFR rookie class in 2020 when the event was held in Arlington, Texas, instead of Las Vegas due to COVID restrictions. “I feel almost like a rookie again,” Brown said. “It’s a completely new deal in that small arena compared to Arlington. But I can’t wait to get to Vegas.” ProRodeo Hall of Famer Ote Berry is a four-time PRCA Steer Roping World Champion who said he’s been impressed with Brown’s surge in 2021. He related it to his own experience, struggling to make his first NFR. “Once I made it, then you feel like you belong,” he said. “It’s been cool to kind of see that with Jesse too. “He’s run with it this year, his confidence is way higher. He’s rodeoing with good guys and riding a great horse of Curtis (Cassidy’s). When you’re doing that, you can just see the confidence. The winning grows and it all snowballs.” Brown rolls into his second NFR second in the world standings with nearly $90,000 in earnings. Brown remembers meeting Berry through his dad, Jim, but said he didn’t pay much attention to rodeo as a kid. “I started rodeo late, so I’m not much of a historian,” Brown said. “But I know he’s a big guy and won a ton. He was really good, and he hazes equally good too.” Brown, Young and Newman will get their first chances inside theThomas &Mack Center when the 2021Wrangler NFR kicks off on Dec. 2.

Newman

Etbauer

Young

Jake Link photo Jesse Brown heads into the NFR second in the PRCA | RAM World Standings. He’s looking for his first ProRodeo World Championship.

on the new talent heading to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo this year. The word legend might not be enough to describe five-time PRCA World Champion Saddle Bronc Rider Billy Etbauer. The ProRodeo Hall of Fame cowboy claimed a PRCA-record 51 go- round wins at the NFR, on the way to collecting more than $3 million in career earnings. While other endeavors keep him busy today, Etbauer still makes time to watch rodeo, and one of the young guns he has been impressed with is Montana’s Sage Newman. “I’ve seen him a little bit, usually onThe Cowboy Channel,” Etbauer said. “He’s doing good for sure. If he can stay healthy, he’ll go far.” Newman, like many saddle bronc riders, counts Etbauer among his rodeo idols. “He’s definitely one of the guys I watched growing up,” Newman said. “He’s one of my favorites because he let it all hang out, he was 90 or nothing. “He never held anything back and went for first every time, and I try to do that too.”

Full Circle

talk future versus past, the sport’s famous camaraderie does apply even in the good-natured ribbing between legends and rookies. In fact, any conversation with Hall of Famers will likely lead to a discussion of who’s impressing them now. As the 2021 regular season closed out, a trio of rodeo icons weighed in ProRodeo legends discuss some of today’s stars headed to NFR

BY JOLEE JORDAN, Special to ProRodeo Sports News A ll sports have their fair share of cross-generational trash talking and the inevitable debates about who was better – the guys back then or the guys now. Rodeo isn’t immune to these comparisons and phrases like “back in my day,” “back when they bucked” or “when cowboys were tough” are known to fly whenever rodeo stories are being told. But while rodeo may be like other sports when fans and competitors

ProRodeo Sports News 10/1/2021

ProRodeo Sports News 10/1/2021

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