JB Mauneys Houston Rodeo 2023 Injury What Could Have Been

Although he's just 36 years old, bull rider JB Mauney is already a legend inside the world of rodeo. Recently, rodeo fans expressed concern about JB after news broke that he was knocked unconscious during a competition.

Now, many want to learn more about what happened to JB, and whether it seems like he'll be able to make a full recovery from the injury he sustained. Here's what we know.

During the championship event at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo event on March 19, J.B. was thrown off of his bull and hit the metal chute. The hit knocked him unconscious, but ABC13 in Houston reported that J.B. was looked at onsite by the RodeoHouston sports medicine team and was walking and talking shortly after the incident. JB was kept out of the rest of the competition but had already accumulated enough points to come in fourth.

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JB hasn't addressed the incident on social media yet, but all reports suggest that he should make a full recovery. As he likely knows better than most, bull riding is inherently risky, and those kinds of injuries are always possible. At 36 years old, JB has become one of the most prominent names on the rodeo circuit despite some serious injuries over the years.

JB started competing in rodeo competitions as early as 2006, and has traveled all over the country for competitions in the years since. He started riding in rodeos when he was just 3 years old and was riding sheep, and in the years since, he's been mentored by 1995 World Champion bull rider Jermone Davis. Widely considered to be one of the best bull riders of his generation, JB is only the third rider ever to reach 500 rides in the elite series.

JB is also the first bull rider to pass $7 million in career earnings, and it doesn't look like he's preparing to slow down any time soon. Although his injury may have some fans concerned, JB has given no indication that he will be stepping away from bull riding. He was certainly fortunate that his injury wasn't more serious, but JB seems willing to keep pushing his success to the next level.

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Although JB hasn't posted about his fall yet, fans are nonetheless taking to the comments on his recent Instagram posts to wish him well.

Although it isn't clear when JB will provide an update on his current condition, fans are certainly concerned about the bull rider. He's one of the biggest names in the sport, and many are hoping that he'll continue to find success without injury in the years ahead.J.B. Mauney of Cotulla, TX., is dragged by Johnny Thunder in Bull Riding as bullfighters move in to help during the Day 2 of the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo at the Thomas & Mack Center on Friday, Dec. 3, 2021, in Las Vegas. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images

J.B. Mauney of Cotulla, Texas, is assisted from the arena after injured riding Johnny Thunder in Bull Riding during the Day 2 of the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo at the Thomas & Mack Center on Friday, Dec. 3, 2021, in Las Vegas. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images

What Happened To Jb Mauney? What Is He Doing Now?

J.B. Mauney of Cotulla, Texas, rides Johnny Thunder in Bull Riding during the Day 2 of the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo at the Thomas & Mack Center on Friday, Dec. 3, 2021, in Las Vegas. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images

J.B. Mauney of Cotulla, Texas, is dragged by Johnny Thunder in Bull Riding as bullfighters move in to help during the Day 2 of the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo at the Thomas & Mack Center on Friday, Dec. 3, 2021, in Las Vegas. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images

J.B. Mauney of Cotulla, Texas, is dragged by Johnny Thunder in Bull riding as a bullfighter moves in to help during the Day 2 of the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo at the Thomas & Mack Center on Friday, Dec. 3, 2021, in Las Vegas. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images

J.b. Mauney Injured During Frightening Spill On Bull At Nfr

After splitting first-place money in his long-anticipated National Finals Rodeo debut Thursday night, legendary bull rider J.B. Mauney spoke at length about experiencing the thrill of victory on his sport’s biggest stage.

A capacity crowd watched in stunned silence as the 34-year-old former two-time Professional Bull Riders champion lay motionless in the Thomas & Mack Center dirt following the frightening incident. Mauney was bleeding from a facial cut as he climbed to his feet.

According to an initial report, his only apparent injuries were facial lacerations that required stitches. Mike Rich, program director for the Pro Rodeo Cowboys Association Justin Sports Medicine team, said Mauney would return to the Thomas & Mack Center for further evaluation Saturday, when his status will be determined.

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It was a stunning reversal of fortune for the North Carolina native who first came to prominence by riding Bushwacker — the Mike Tyson of bucking bulls — in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in August 2013.

Mauney was one of only three cowboys to best the “Baddest Bull on the Planet” — and he did it wearing a cowboy hat instead of a helmet. It was the crowing achievement of a career that had seen him accomplish just about anything a man could while competing on the rival PBR tour.

But after riding a bull called Cocktail Diarrhea for 87.5 points to split the first-round win with Australian Ky Hamilton Thursday, the soon-to-be 35-year-old superstar was feeling his oats.

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“Sixteen years of riding bulls professionally and that is probably only the second time I’ve been nervous in my entire life, ” said the two-time PBR champion and its all-time money winner.

“When I was in elementary school I can remember setting my alarm clock for five minutes before the bull riding started at the NFR, ” he said with a toothy grin. “I wasn’t allowed to stay up all night to watch the NFR, so I’d watch the bull riding and go back to sleep.

J.B.

Mauney said he could have used exemptions to remain on the jet-setting tour with his many PBR rivals and pals. But he was having too much fun traveling the rodeo circuit with his wife and little boy — Jagger Briggs Mauney was born holding the umbilical cord as if it were a bull rope, J.B. says — in the family RV to end pursuit of his NFR dream.

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Bull rider J.B. Mauney talks about leaving the PBR to qualify for his first National Finals Rodeo at age 34.#NFR2021 #rodeo pic.twitter.com/ARTtbsVMhi — ronkantowski (@ronkantowski) December 3, 2021

“I had a great career in the PBR, but I’m getting older. As a bull rider, it just doesn’t last, ” he said of staying healthy in the rodeo discipline that makes most men old before their time. That would prove to be an eerie bit of foreshadowing.

But when the time arrives to look back at his yesterdays, Mauney said ending the mighty Bushwacker’s record buck-off streak at 42 and making it to the NFR at an age when most bull riders are thinking about riding off to greener pastures will rank hand in glove.

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“I accomplished a lot riding bulls. But one thing I wanted to do was nod my head in those yellow bucking chutes, ” he said about the subtle gesture a bull rider makes before hell breaks loose for eight seconds or fewer at the National Finals.

After starting the National Finals with a go-round victory on opening night, bareback rider Jess Pope said he was looking through the windshield rather than the rearview mirror.

Bull

The 23-year-0ld from the Kansas heartland made it 2-for-2 at the Thomas & Mack Center Friday with a ride of 89.5 points on Big Stone Rodeo Inc’s Fired Up.

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“The NFR is starting the way I want it to, ” Pope said after pocketing another first-place check for $26, 996. “This is how I put food on the table. I will go buy some cows when I get home.”

“You start thinking about things that are out of your control, it doesn’t make sense, ” Pope said of his success out of the box in Las Vegas that has vaulted him from sixth in season earnings to second place for 16 seconds of work.

“I know if I show up here and do my job every day and continue to try and win and perfect everything I do, then the cards are going to lay where they lay. God has a plan and I’m just living it.”

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Idaho’s Dirk Tavenner joined Pope as a back-to-back winner with a 3.4 clocking in steer wrestling and climbed to second in the championship standings after starting the NFR in 10th place.

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Las Vegas is seeking to keep the NFR in Las Vegas, with some seeing the Oakland Athletics’ planned Southern Nevada ballpark as a potential landing spot.