Texas Rattlers
Rattlers, Brady Oleson, Cody Jesus, Braidy Randolph, Dawson Gleaves, Daniel Keeping, in the opening during the first day of the PBR Teams event in Kansas City. Photo by Todd Brewer/Bull Stock Media
The dark closes in, threatening to overwhelm your field of vision. But there’s a way to fight it, to shake off the shadows.
That’s how Braidy Randolph describes it, at least.
An 1,800-pound bucking bull smacked him in the face, mid-ride, last year in Las Vegas, and he tried to fight through the daze and walk back to safety. The bull, aptly named Mule Train, would strike fear into the heart of most mortal men. He sports a coal-black hide with a flourish of brown, and he has knocked off 96% of the riders who have tried to stay atop his back for the eight seconds needed to register a qualified ride. As a bull rider, it’s Randolph’s job to brave beasts like that most weekends.
Texas Rattlers
Braidy Randolph
“He just rocked my world,” the 23-year-old Randolph recalls nearly a year later. “It was one of those deals where you try to really fight through the haze and shake off the daze, but when I tried to stand up, I passed out.”
The Stephenville native may be young, but by now, he’s accustomed to enduring the ups, downs, and painful glory of a life riding bucking bulls. His hard-won talent has helped him reach No. 13 in the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) rider standings as of this writing, and he’s overcome major injuries before. In 2019, for instance, he broke two bones in his lower left leg. Doctors used rods and pins to repair the damage, but a dangerous infection later settled in, threatening to waste away his leg and end his career. The leg eventually healed, but only after a busted incision alerted Randolph and his doctors to the raging infection. Even so, he resumed riding before his leg was even fully recovered.
This hit by Mule Train was different — not because of its damage, but because of what Randolph was fighting for.
Back in 2019, he was competing solely for himself. But last year in Vegas, he was competing in the finals of the PBR’s first team series season. Randolph is one of 10 bull riders on the Texas Rattlers, Fort Worth’s official PBR team. The squad is a collection of bucking bull veterans and young athletes, including guys from Brazil, Missouri, Idaho, and Australia. In last year’s inaugural season, the team scored 10 straight victories, a scorching streak that earned them the No. 2 seed at the Finals in Vegas.
“The guys need to know that this is how good they are,” the team’s coach, rodeo veteran Cody Lambert, said at the time. “It is not a streak. This is how they ride. If you understand that, you don’t visit the zone every now and then. You live in the zone.”
Bull riding has historically been a “lone ranger”-type sport. Cowboys palled around with fellow riders, of course, but when they rode, they rode for themselves. Any money they earned was theirs alone, and oftentimes, guys went home with plenty of bruises but no winnings. The PBR has now shifted that paradigm, creating a league of eight teams.
Texas Rattlers
Daniel Keeping
From July through October, these teams travel across the country, participating in tournament-style events in which the squads take turns competing head-to-head. Riders are scored based on how well they ride, and they need to stay atop the bull for at least eight seconds to earn any kind of score. The team with the most collective points wins, and at the end of the competition, each rider receives a share of the team’s winnings.
While this new format has been met with skepticism by some fans and veteran cowmen, there’s little doubt it comes at a perfect time for the business. Rodeo events are breaking attendance records across the country, and in 2019, PBR and CBS came to agreement on a media rights deal that will keep PBR events on national television through at least 2028. According to The Athletic, PBR has managed to sustain strong TV viewership numbers despite a rising trend in cord cutting. This year alone, five PBR events on CBS earned more than one million viewers.
Further, the PBR still hosts its regular season “Unleash the Beast” series from November through May, meaning there are major bull riding events on TV nearly every month of the year. “Unleash the Beast” is a classic rider versus bull competition where both man and beast are vying for individual glory. Architects and proponents of the team series say bull riding fans now have the best of both worlds.
They can watch their favorite riders — and their favorite bulls — compete in the “Unleash the Beast” series; then, when that season ends, they get to see them join forces for team competitions similar to the other professional sports they follow.
“Introducing the team structure is quite a departure from, let’s call it 100 years of history of Western sports, but team series is 100% the future of professional bull riding,” says Chad Blankenship, a sports business veteran and the general manager of the Rattlers. “What we’ve seen in only the first year and a half is that it offers everything a PBR and Western sports fan has always loved about bull riding. It has the excitement, it has the rivalries, and the structure benefits the riders, too.”
Randolph and Dan Keeping, two Rattlers interviewed for this story, say their team has forged a brotherhood that motivates each of them to be better. So last year in Vegas, it didn’t really matter that Randolph got bucked off.
What mattered was that, for the first time, he had a team ready to lift him up.
“We had lost one of our guys (veteran João Ricardo Vieira) to injury the day before, so it was one of those deals where you really want to fight for your team,” Randolph says. “You’re not really afraid of any bull; we feel like there’s no reason we can’t ride ‘em all. And you want to fight for that guy next to you.”
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Braidy Randolph rides Universal Pro Rodeo/Rachel & Dustin Powellís Blazer for 89.75 during the third round of the Nashville Teams PBR event. Photo by Bull Stock Media
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Braidy Randolph during the 2nd day of Austin PBR Teams event. Photo by Josh Homer/Bull Stock Media. Photo credit must be given on all uses.
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Daniel Keeping attempts to ride Viducic Bucking Bulls’s Nefarious during the third round of the Austin Teams PBR event. Photo by Andy Watson / Bull Stock Media
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Daniel Keeping during the 3rd day of Austin PBR Teams event. Photo by Josh Homer/Bull Stock Media. Photo credit must be given on all uses.
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Cody Lambert, Daniel Keeping, Rattlers, in the locker room during the third round of the Nashville Teams PBR event. Photo by Bull Stock Media
“You’re not in it alone” In the 1980s and ’90s, Cody Lambert was part of “the Wolfpack” — a group of friends and bull riders that included Jim Sharp, Ty Murray, Tuff Hedeman, and Lane Frost. The cowboys traveled together and leaned on one another for advice and support.
“For me, it was always better to feel like I was part of a team,” Lambert tells Fort Worth Magazine.
Every aspiring cowboy grows up hearing the story of Lane Frost, thanks in part to Luke Perry’s portrayal of the legendary rider in the film “8 Seconds.” At an event in Wyoming in 1989, Frost successfully rode a bull named Takin’ Care of Business. Yet after the 25-year-old rider dismounted and landed in the mud, the bull pressed one of its horns against Frost’s back, breaking several of his ribs. When he stood up, his broken ribs pierced his lungs and heart, killing him.
Lambert would later develop the protective vests that are now required for all pro riders. He would also help found the PBR itself, and he played an outsized role in the organization’s evolution.
“I got stuck with the role as the unofficial livestock director,” he said in 2015. “It’s like there’s nobody there to coach the team, so one of the players becomes a player-coach. That’s how it felt to me.”
The Director of Livestock title later became official, and Lambert set a high bar for the PBR.
Since the organization was founded on the promise of matching up the world’s best riders with the world’s best bulls, he threw down the gauntlet, decreeing that only the rankest bulls (read: the toughest, most powerful bulls) would appear at PBR events.
Texas Rattlers
Daniel Keeping during the second day of the PBR Teams event in Kansas City.
“We’ve consistently demanded the best,” Lambert said in that same 2015 interview. “We were trying to get the best in the beginning, and then at some point, as the PBR grew, we could demand the best. We paid more, and we were the only place that the best bulls can be challenged. And we still are. If you have a real legitimate bucker, there’s really no place for him to go except the PBR.”
That’s truer than ever, as PBR competitions have become truly international events. Riders flock to the league from around the world, and from 2017 to 2022, the PBR’s Global Cup events affirmed both the sport’s global popularity and the viability of a team format. Teams from America, Brazil, Australia, Canada, and Mexico competed against one another for gold, silver, and bronze medals, and the U.S. delegation included two teams: the Eagles, populated by riders from Montana, Washington, and several other states, and the Wolves, an all-Native American squad.
“In hindsight, the Global Cup really functioned as a beta test,” says Blankenship, who was a senior vice president at PBR before becoming the Rattlers’ GM. “It wasn’t created that way, but it was so fun, and fans loved it. The riders were into it, too, and it was such a compelling product on television. Watching those competitions, all of us at PBR thought we should look into developing a team series.”
Blankenship says the team series was originally going to be “an overlay” with “Unleash the Beast” events; the two competitions would be part of the same season. But the team’s concept evolved over the course of several years of planning, and in 2022, the PBR was ready with a product they feel showcases some of the most intriguing aspects of their sport. The team’s series has faced its fair share of criticism, though, especially in its early days.
“I was excited about the team format, but most people told me they thought it wasn’t gonna be very good,” Lambert says. “I think a lot of them came around. For people that ridicule it and don’t like the team format, I think if they watched a little bit, I think they would enjoy the way it was presented.”
Blankenship elaborates.
“Fundamentally, I think a lot of people — including the riders — have come to love it so quickly because it has all the aspects of bull riding,” he says. “You see these incredible bovine athletes, and you’re adding into that all the layers of team sports and team fandom.”
Fort Worth, home to Dickies Arena and the storied Stockyards, was always going to be a part of the team’s equation. The city is, of course, steeped in Western lore, and it’s been playing host to bull riding competitions for decades.
“We knew we had to have a presence in Fort Worth, and we see the team as being a legitimate economic driver,” Blankenship adds. For example, Rattler Days — a three-day celebration at which all eight PBR teams competed against one another — was held at Dickies Arena in early October this year.
Once it was decided that Fort Worth would be home to a PBR team, one of the first steps was to find a coach. Lambert was a no-brainer. After all, he knows bucking bulls better than most people on the planet, and he and his fellow Wolfpack members were inspirational figures for many modern bull riders. Since his hiring in early 2022, Lambert has complemented his rodeo legacy by building and training a team whose 10-win run was one of the biggest stories of the PBR’s first team season.
“The type of team we have is not built around superstars; it’s built around real talented guys that are humble,” he says. “We’ve gotten closer as it goes. We want that feeling because it always feels good when you’re not in it alone.”
Texas Rattlers
Daniel Keeping during the 3rd day of Austin PBR Teams event.
“A different kind of grit” On a scorching August morning, Lambert runs his team through the obstacle course he designed specifically for the Rattlers. The course includes bars for balancing; monkey bars for arm, shoulders, and core strength; and rock climbing for added power in the neck, lower back, thighs, and calves. In other words, it has everything bull riders need to improve if they hope to succeed against bulls that are getting stronger every year.
“I watched ‘American Ninja Warrior,’ then designed the course myself,” Lambert, now 62, says. “It’s all built with bull riding in mind, and it’s based on a different kind of grit.”
After a 6 to 9 a.m. workout, the team enjoys a late breakfast before going into film study. Like a football or basketball team watching game tape to break down plays and defensive formations, the Rattlers comb through tapes of the bulls they will face in their upcoming competitions. There’s a bit of unpredictability in this sport that keeps things interesting: A couple days before a team’s competition, the PBR will let each team know which “pen” (a group of bulls) they have been assigned for the upcoming event. This gives Lambert and his team the chance to strategize, assigning specific bulls to the Rattler they think has the best chance of scoring a quality ride. For instance, if a bull has a tendency to shoot out of the chute and immediately start kicking to his left, the team will most likely pick a rider who has recently had success staying balanced when faced with that kind of move. Yet the teams have no idea which bulls they’ll draw after the first day of competition; it all depends on how that first day goes.
Due to the team’s repeated tape sessions — and the studious nature of the roster Lambert and Blankenship have constructed — the riders have a practically encyclopedic nature of the bulls populating the PBR ranks these days.
“There probably ain’t a single bull in the PBR that I don’t know about,” Randolph says. “If a new calf is coming up, we’ll watch ‘em buck so we can match up the right pattern.”
That said, Randolph admits there are some bulls who can switch up their moves, creating problems for riders who think they know what’s coming. He includes the bulls Cold Creek, Dennis the Menace, and Preacher’s Kid on that list.
“Those are tough to get by. They’re really electric in the air and really strong. They’re no fun to ride, because they don’t have a set pattern and you gotta be on your toes with them.”
That’s why Lambert spends a lot of time talking to his riders about focus. He shares mistakes he made while riding or notes mistakes other riders have made in the tapes they watch, but he doesn’t dwell on them. Instead, he teaches them to ingrain the little things in their mind so they don’t think about them when they get atop their bull.
“Cody is a classic motivator,” Randolph says. “Most of this game is mental, and he’s gotten me to believe in myself more than I used to. Before I joined the Rattlers, my riding wasn’t up to the level it is now. He’s always supporting us, no matter what, as long as we give it our all. He’s always pushing us, but he’s also telling us how great we are. When you hear that constantly, it’s hard to not pick it up and believe it.”
In addition to Randolph and his good friend Dan Keeping, the Rattler roster includes the masterful 39-year-old Brazilian João Ricardo Vieira, two other Bradys (Brady Oleson from Idaho and Brady Fielder from Australia), and top 100-ranked riders Alvaro Ariel and Cody Jesus. Younger riders Dawson Gleaves, Creek Young, and Trace Redd round out the team.
“If you’re writing about the team, you gotta have everyone in there,” insists Keeping, a 24-year-old with a twirly mustache and a charismatic Texas twang. He hails from Montague, Texas, a town with roughly a few hundred inhabitants.
Texas Rattlers
Daniel Keeping during the 1st day of Anaheim PBR Teams event. Photo by Josh Homer/Bull Stock Media. Photo credit must be given on all uses.
“My dad was a smart man and drove me to push myself,” he says, recalling his life on a 6-acre property roughly an hour and a half north of Fort Worth. “When I was about 11 or 12, we had 2-year-olds or yearlings that were wild, and the other kids didn’t want to ride them. They were mean or would hook you in the box, but I took ‘em on. To be honest, I got a little ahead of myself.”
He got a reputation as a “crash test dummy,” the kind of guy who would ride bulls even if there was a good chance the ride would end in a rough wreck. Nowadays, Keeping isn’t too fond of that “crash test” moniker, but he admits he had a tendency to overextend himself.
“The older I got, the ballsier I got. Or the dumber I got. One or the other; it’s kinda the same.”
He grew up on the youth rodeo circuit with Randolph, and the two were close even before their Rattler days. Over the last year and a half, their bond has only gotten stronger. If you watch video from those days in Vegas, when the team was riding a 10-game win streak and seeking a title, you’ll hear Keeping in the background, hollering words of encouragement every interminably long second of Randolph’s rides. And after his friend was knocked out by Mule Train, Keeping was one of the first to offer him words of encouragement, to let him know he had a whole team that was proud of him.
Keeping credits Lambert for building a culture rooted in brotherhood. It’s a brotherhood that one might compare to the original Wolfpack. Unsurprisingly, that crew had a significant impact on Keeping. In fact, the Wolfpack is still shaping his career.
“Everyone says Lane Frost and I are kinda built the same, so I learned a lot from watching tape of him,” he says. “Then I got to meet Jim Sharp, and when you’re 13, 14, 15 years old in this world, seeing Jim Sharp walk around stays with you. You learn how to carry yourself the way you should. And now I’m coached by Cody.”
One of Lambert’s mantras has stuck with Keeping: “There’s another level,” Lambert says, “that you don’t even know about yet. But you’re about to unlock it.”
This mindset keeps the team positive and striving, even when they ultimately fall short. Their first season got off to a mediocre start, then their hot streak had many followers believing they could win the whole thing. A slew of injuries ultimately kept them from the crown, but they finished second place in a league where they initially appeared doomed for one of the bottom spots. Now, as of this writing, they’re in the middle of the pack as the last full month of the season begins. Their team identity as a tight-knit, scrappy unit that believes in itself at all times might just help them unlock that next level Lambert talks about.
“It’s a different feeling, being on this team,” Keeping says. “It’s just awesome being able to be any part of it.”
