Trevor Brazile photo courtesy of PRCA, photo credit Photo by Tom Donoghue.
The sun comes up in the morning, the moon rises at night and Trevor Brazile is the World Champion All-Around Cowboy.
Some things are inevitable.
Brazile clinched his record ninth world all-around championship and his 16th gold buckle overall – which ties him with Jim Shoulders for second all-time in Pro Rodeo history. Only steer roper Guy Allen (with 18) has more.
The win was assured during Round 4 of the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo at the Thomas & Mack Center on Sunday afternoon in front of 17,094 fans. Virtually assured of winning the title, it was just a matter of how soon Brazile would officially earn the gold buckle. To clinch it in Round 4, he needed to win $17,385 in go-round earnings, and that was only if bull rider Shane Proctor was able to win each of the final seven rounds, plus the average. Brazile got off to a great start with a second-place finish in the team roping with partner Patrick Smith. The cowboys earned $14,135 apiece for their 4.7-second run, and left Brazile sitting within a fifth-place finish in the tie-down roping of clinching the all-around crown.
A miss on his first loop took Brazile out of the money in tie-down roping, but he clinched the title anyway when bull rider Proctor bucked off later in the round. Proctor, who also rode saddle bronc horses in 2011, was the lone cowboy with a mathematical shot at catching Brazile for the all-around going into Round 4.
“It’s a totally different feel, because everything was around 7 my whole life, then to beat that last year…those were milestones that I’d set for myself,” Brazile said. “It’s an uncharted territory, and I’m just thrilled to have such a blessed year this year again. To clinch it this early, it kind of lets a guy let his hair down in the single events.”
Brazile now sets his sights on Allen for the most world titles in ProRodeo history.
“When I came into this game, I was one of the guys that was saying those records would never be broken,” Brazile said. “To talk about Jim Shoulders, I said that’s not going to happen in this new era of rodeo. It doesn’t even seem real to me to reach that 16th title. My career has been more than I could ever dream it would be at this point. I’m loving it. I’m living the dream, actually. I didn’t dare to dream this stuff, I’ll be honest.”
With his second-place check on Sunday, Brazile topped $300,000 for a record-sixth consecutive year. He sits at $305,581 four rounds into the NFR, with Proctor a distance second in the all-around standings at $137,774.
While Proctor bucked off, three-time defending champion J.W. Harris turned in his second qualified ride of the week – an 88-point ride on Mo Betta Rodeo’s Bailey Hou – to win the round and his second check of the week. However, he suffered a fractured right foot as he dismounted from the bull.
“It shouldn’t affect me at all; it’s just my foot, and I don’t use my foot to ride bulls, so I’ll just get another pair of boots to ride in and the (Justin) sports medicine people will find a way for me to keep going,” Harris said. “It’s on from here and I’m gunning for the lead; if I get bucked off one, it’s not going to be because of lack of effort. It’s a whole new game.”
Proctor is just sixth in the average race now, but still holds a commanding lead in the bull riding world standings. He’s more than $30,000 ahead of Harris, who is fourth in the average. Continue Reading
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