Injured Mauney shows discretion, passes on final ride of PBR World Finals — PHOTOS
After winning his second Professional Bull Riders world title in three years, J.B. Mauney didn’t hoist the championship trophy over his head when he was presented with the hardware following Sunday’s final round of the PBR World Finals before a crowd of 15,500 at the Thomas & Mack Center.
That’s because he couldn’t.
“There’s no way I could get that trophy up,” he said.
Mauney suffered a sprained sternoclavicular joint (collarbone) on his riding arm when he was run over by world champion bull contender Bruiser after winning Saturday’s fourth round with a title-clinching 92-point ride.
“When the whistle blew, I was kind of behind that bull, and he whipped me down on his head and his horn hit me on the chest,” Mauney said.
Mauney couldn’t even button his shirt, let alone hold onto a rope Sunday, so after consulting with PBR Dr. Tandy Freeman, he reluctantly decided to sit out the final day of the Finals and abandon his quest for the event title, which was claimed by rookie Cooper Davis. Mauney won the first round with a 91-point ride on Wicked Stick and led the aggregate heading into the event’s final day.
“I’m still big about being a cowboy on things. I really hated to sit out today,” said Mauney, 28. “I was not wanting to, but Tandy was talking to me and finally once in my life I was smart and listened to what he had to say.
“I was wanting to get on, but he said, ‘You don’t need to go out if you can’t hold onto your rope. There’s no need to put yourself in more danger.’ “
Mauney, of Mooresville, N.C., said Freeman also told him he’d be ready for the start of next season in January but that his injury was going to hurt for the next six months. Like most bull riders, Mauney took the news in stride.
“Every guy here, if they say something’s not sore and hurting on them, they’re lying to you,” he said.
Toughness runs in Mauney’s family. His late grandfather, P.D. “Catfish” McAllister, was a former pro baseball player who had both legs amputated because of blood clots before he turned 40 but remained active in the sport until his death, coaching Little League and umpiring games from his wheelchair behind home plate.
“I’ve always been raised that way,” Mauney said. “My dad told me when I was little, ‘If you’re going to play the game, you’ve got to take the pain.’ That’s how I look at it every time.”
Mauney took the pain all year after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament and medial collateral ligament in March. He returned to action in April and dominated the PBR series with four event wins down the stretch to take an almost insurmountable lead to Las Vegas over Joao Ricardo Vieira, who settled for third in the world behind runner-up Kaique Pacheco, the PBR Rookie of the Year.
Mauney said his knee injuries turned out to be a blessing.
“That kind of drove me to come back and do a lot better because I had to actually work at it for once in my life,” he said. “I debated whether to have surgery on it. I opted not to have it and was in physical therapy twice a week for a month straight. That put the spark and fire back in me and the drive to show up and do good.”
The $1 million bonus Mauney takes home for winning the world title pushes his career earnings to more than $6 million, making him the richest Western sports athlete ever.
“Six million dollars,” Mauney said with a smile. “I don’t know where it all went.”
We think he was joking.
NOTES — Davis, a new father who has lost 24 pounds since August, rode four of his six bulls en route to claiming the Finals crown. Despite the 21-year-old from Jasper, Texas, pocketing $250,000 for his win, Davis joked that his son, Mackston, is “going to be a golfer.” … Sweet Pro’s Long John earned world champion bull honors, bucking off Fabiano Vieira in Sunday’s short round in 7.41 seconds for a Finals-best score of 47.25 points. … The PBR attracted 55,000 fans to its 17th and final five-day run at the Thomas & Mack before moving next year to the new MGM/AEG Arena behind New York-New York.
Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0354. Follow him on Twitter: @tdewey33.
