Some of Matt OB次元官网网址橣lynnB次元官网网址檚 favourite times as a professional bull rider happen on the road to and from rodeos.
He and his car mates take the time to swap stories, watch the country drift by or just catch up on some much-needed sleep. It is fitting then that the 28-year-old OB次元官网网址橣lynn, from Quesnel, was sitting shotgun in a truck when he made the decision to call it a career this summer.
It was the third week in August and OB次元官网网址橣lynn says he was heading to a Bull Riders Canada (BRC) event in Cochrane, Alberta with his good friend and fellow competitor, Lane Cork.
To pass the time he read a follow-up article on Ty Pozzobon, a bull rider from Merritt who took his own life in January of 2017.
OB次元官网网址橣lynn was close to Pozzobon and says the article hit him in the heart. It wasnB次元官网网址檛 just that he missed his friend. He also saw the road that could lay ahead for him if he continued to test his limits.
B次元官网网址淗aving seen what it did to his family and then knowing the way he acted was the way we all act really,B次元官网网址� OB次元官网网址橣lynn says, B次元官网网址淩eckless and living for the moment.
B次元官网网址淪o all of a sudden, I felt like I had been slapped in the face. It just hit me and I said to myself, B次元官网网址業B次元官网网址檓 going to quit. This is it. This is the end of the road for me.B次元官网网址滲次元官网网址�
Pozzobon had just wrapped up his best rodeo season when he killed himself at the age of 25. He was riding bulls better than he ever had and seemed on top of the world; but inwardly, he was struggling mightily.
A post-mortem exam confirmed he suffered from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease found in contact sport athletes as well as military personnel.
Often it is the result of multiple concussions.
In a sport where contestants attempt to hang on to 1,800 pound bundles of fleshy muscle, injuries are abundant and itB次元官网网址檚 the cowboy way to shrug them off.
B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檝e pretty much had my face more or less rebuilt,B次元官网网址� OB次元官网网址橣lynn mentions as casually as someone telling their co-worker they put on winter tires recently.
B次元官网网址淚 had a bull crush my face,B次元官网网址� he explains. B次元官网网址淗e fell down and jumped right back up and kicked really hard and I just, Bang!B次元官网网址� he yells out, motioning his head smacking down against something in front of him, B次元官网网址淗it my face on the top of his horns, which is the thickest part of his skull.
B次元官网网址淢y nose was under my eye, which was pretty traumatic when I was looking at it in the rear view mirror on the way to the hospital.B次元官网网址�
If a face crushing is not impetus enough to stop the dangerous sport, it begs the question, what is?
OB次元官网网址橣lynn has also lost many teeth and broken his wrist countless times.
B次元官网网址淭he muscle was ripped right off my hand. It didnB次元官网网址檛 work for a while but we got that taken care of,B次元官网网址� he says quite nonchalantly.
He also almost lost an ear while competing. The bull rider has a four or five inch scar going to up the right side of his skull behind the appendage, which was the result of 40 stitches to reattach it.
While he talks about his many maladies as if they were mere setbacks, he stiffens up slightly and becomes significantly more solemn when discussing head injuries.
B次元官网网址淒efinitely the worst injuries are concussions, and IB次元官网网址檝e had well over 15,B次元官网网址� he admits.
B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檝e been knocked out four times this year and reading that article, I saw a lot of the information was running parallel with my life right now.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淵ou can have the world by the balls but if you push it too far, youB次元官网网址檙e going to get bit.
B次元官网网址淐oncussions are the killer.B次元官网网址�
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With the help of the Quesnel Rodeo Club, OB次元官网网址橣lynn plans to organize a school for young rodeo athletes this spring. Part of its mandate will be to raise awareness of the dangers of head injuries in the sport.
B次元官网网址淭he biggest thing [I want to get across to athletes] is take the time and do the research and know the injury,B次元官网网址� he says. B次元官网网址淓ven though you canB次元官网网址檛 see it bleeding and you canB次元官网网址檛 see the bruising, youB次元官网网址檙e still hurt and you need to take the time.
B次元官网网址淵ou cannot rush it because itB次元官网网址檒l shorten your career if you rush it,B次元官网网址� OB次元官网网址橣lynn adds.
B次元官网网址淎nd I rushed it.B次元官网网址�
He says the cowboy thing, being tougher than the leather your saddle is made from, has been bred into the sport for many generations.
B次元官网网址淵ou will ride with a cast on or you will ride with a dislocated shoulder from the day before. ThereB次元官网网址檚 certain things that you can mitigate to make it work, but one of the biggest things that you cannot waver on is concussions.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 part of it. YouB次元官网网址檙e going to get knocked out. I know if I keep riding IB次元官网网址檓 going to get knocked out again. ItB次元官网网址檚 not a question of if or how, itB次元官网网址檚 just going to happen.
B次元官网网址淪o, you have to be able to deal with that and thatB次元官网网址檚 one of the things we will go over really extensively in my school.B次元官网网址�
In addition to organizing the school, OB次元官网网址橣lynn has taken over his fatherB次元官网网址檚 roofing business with his brother, Tom. He has been working hard to expand the company and hopes to double its size by next year.
During the winters he plans on travelling with his fiancee, who he hopes to marry next year.
OB次元官网网址橣lynn is grateful for the support his family and friends have shown throughout his career, especially now that it is coming to a close.
B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檝e been really close with my parents and my brothers and sister,B次元官网网址� he says. B次元官网网址淭hey talked to me partway through this year about retiring and [asked] what my thoughts were.
B次元官网网址淭hey werenB次元官网网址檛 pressuring me at all because theyB次元官网网址檝e seen how hard IB次元官网网址檝e worked and what IB次元官网网址檝e put in to this sport B次元官网网址� so, when I did make the decision to retire it was 100 per cent my decision.B次元官网网址�
Road companion and top bull rider in his own right, Lane Cork had OB次元官网网址橣lynnB次元官网网址檚 back with the choice too.
B次元官网网址淲hen I read the article I was pretty much crying and I talked to Lane right away and he said, B次元官网网址榊ou should think about [retiring].B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址�
The two Quesnel men have been friends for a long time. OB次元官网网址橣lynn says theyB次元官网网址檝e done a lot of wild and cool stuff together and have many shared memories, so the sentiment meant a lot to him.
Although 28 may seem young to be retiring from anything, OB次元官网网址橣lynn has had a long career. He says heB次元官网网址檚 been partaking in rodeos since he was eight years old.
B次元官网网址淯ncle Steve started me,B次元官网网址� he says, referring to local rodeo hero Steve Hohmann, who at 52 is still riding bulls.
B次元官网网址淗eB次元官网网址檚 just old school. One of the last of a dying breed.
He had me doing about 30 rodeos a year by the time I was 11 and I started riding bulls by the time I was 15 and then competed professional for the last seven years, since I was about 20.B次元官网网址�
If there were any regrets, OB次元官网网址橣lynn says, it was not forcing his way on to the professional circuit sooner.
B次元官网网址淚 didnB次元官网网址檛 believe in myself enough [when younger],B次元官网网址� he says. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 just so scary coming from B.C. to Alberta.B次元官网网址�
Outsiders might think that it would be the bulls, not the big show, that would provide the most trepidation, but OB次元官网网址橣lynn says he didnB次元官网网址檛 find them too frightening at all after a couple years.
B次元官网网址淭heyB次元官网网址檙e huge and theyB次元官网网址檙e scary and when youB次元官网网址檙e a kid, you stand there looking at this thing and think, B次元官网网址榃hy would I get on that?B次元官网网址� But after a while it becomes routine. You do your thing and you put your rope on and you go to work.
B次元官网网址淚n the last 10 years, I never thought a particular bull was scary.B次元官网网址�
He says it was not even about the bulls so much as he has gotten older. It is more about the whole experience B次元官网网址� highlights of which include getting to travel to Australia, training for winters in California, driving across thousands of miles with good friends and even meeting his fiancee through rodeo.
The rodeo tradition will carry on in the family, even as Matt retires. The youngest OB次元官网网址橣lynn brother, Eric, will take up bull riding next year.
He is 16-years-old and has been riding steers for a few years.
B次元官网网址淚 cared more about calling him after rodeos than I cared about my own result,B次元官网网址� OB次元官网网址橣lynn recalls, laughing.
B次元官网网址淚 could finally force him to drive this year, which is a bonus. IB次元官网网址檇 say, B次元官网网址業tB次元官网网址檚 your turn,B次元官网网址� and IB次元官网网址檇 go to sleep and wake up and heB次元官网网址檇 be eyeballs over the steering wheel, wide eyed, and IB次元官网网址檇 say, B次元官网网址榊ouB次元官网网址檙e good, just keep going.B次元官网网址滲次元官网网址�
sports@quesnelobserver.com
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