I’ve always been intrigued by professional bull riding, or PBR, as most people know it.
Professional bull riding has to be one of the most gruelling, challenging, painful sports professions in existence. And the athletes that participate in it could be viewed as insane, but hey, someone has to do it.
If you’re a PBR fan, you’ve definitely heard of J.B. Mauney, one of PBR’s original allstars. James Burton Mauney has earned quite the name for himself in PBR, and with good reason.
Mauney holds the title of PBR World Champion for two separate occasions, once in 2013 and again in 2015. He is one of only two bull riders to stay on Bushwhacker, a notoriously difficult bull to ride in the PBR world, for more than eight seconds. And, in 2016, Mauney made PBR history by being the first rider to hit the $7 million mark in career earnings.
If you’ve seen Mauney ride, you’re arguably aware of his unwavering confidence. The man fears nothing, which has likely contributed to his success in such a dangerous industry.
He also has an insane amount of injuries that he’s accumulated over the course of his PBR career. There are too many to list, but the injuries I’m aware of include a broken jaw, a broken left hand, a broken right hand, a lacerated liver, broken ribs, a broken left leg, a broken right leg, a separated shoulder, a fractured hip, a broken back, and his loss of both his ACL and MCL.
And, as expected in a career like bull riding, Mauney is no whimp. He is actually competing right now with a broken leg which he broke three weeks ago.
No words, people. No words.
I recently watched a video about Mauney via VICE Sports, and if you’re at all interested in learning about this man, I highly recommend watching it.
