ProRodeo Sports News - October 29, 2021

PRORODEO COWBOYS

Rodeo stars ready for return to action at NFR On the Mend PRCA ProRodeo photo by Clay Guardipee After missing nearly two months of competition with a hand injury Tuf Cooper will return to the NFR looking for his fifth world title.

BY TANNER BARTH T he Top 15 cowboys in the world in every event will travel to Las Vegas in December for the Wrangler

“I listened to my doctors and the last thing he said to me before we did this he goes ‘if you mess with my incisions, you can kiss your NFR goodbye.’ Those words stuck with me.” O’Connell says he’s right on track to be back healthy and ready to compete at this year’s NFR. The next few weeks will be spent preparing as he would any other year to ride 10 horses at theThomas &Mack Center. “I’m doing really well, I was actually released last week to get back to some rodeo activities,” O’Connell said. “I just started going to get on my spur board and the bucking machine. I’ve been fully released in the gym for about a month already. I’ll be good to go to get on a bucking horse Nov. 11. I plan to get on between three to five horses leading up to the NFR.” O’Connell wasn’t the only cowboy trying to get healthy as the ProRodeo regular season came to an end on Sept. 30. Four-time PRCA World Champion Tuf Cooper has been battling a finger injury since Aug. 14. Cooper got a coil in his left hand getting off his horse at the Cache

National Finals Rodeo and for some of the sport’s biggest stars it will be a return to action for the first time in months. Three-time PRCAWorld Champion Bareback Rider TimO’Connell is one of those athletes who will be back in action after being sidelined for nearly three months after suffering a tailbone injury in Lovington, N.M., Aug. 5. The injury led to O’Connell undergoing a coccygectomy (removal of the tailbone) surgery. He admits it was tough to not be out there riding, but knew if he wanted to compete in Las Vegas, it was necessary. “I actually had to listen to my doctors if I wanted this thing to work and be successful,” said O’Connell, an eight-time Wrangler NFR qualifier. “I had to take it upon myself to not try to test the boundaries of what my body should and shouldn’t do.

ProRodeo Sports News 10/29/2021

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