ProRodeo Sports News - October 5, 2018

Goal-oriented cowboy was always focused on next step BY MATT NABER T here wasn’t much that bull rider Matt Austin couldn’t do in the arena in the mid-2000s. The Texas cowboy kicked off his PRCA career by winning Rookie of the Year in 2003 and went on to make three trips to the MattAustin Matt Austin, the 2005 bull riding world champion, won just about everything in the mid-2000s and set records that went unbroken for more than a decade. PRCA ProRodeo file photo by Mike Copeman

I’m the best bull rider in the world, because that’s how I programmed my mind as a kid. Now, at 36, I think like that every day.” DREAMING BIG Austin finished the 2004 season ranked second in the world and finished fourth in the average at the 2004Wrangler NFR. He also shared the top spot for money earned on the 2004 Xtreme Bulls tour. “When I rode bulls, I never rode for the money or the championships,” Austin said. “I rode bulls because I absolutely loved it.” Austin’s banner year came in 2005 when he won the world title and set a PRCA record for highest single-season earnings at the time with $320,766. Austin needed just one event to do it. He broke Ty Murray’s 1993 record of $297,896. Murray competed in three events. Austin also broke Terry Don West’s single-season bull riding earnings record of $211,879 set in 2003. Austin won the average title at the 2005Wrangler NFR. The record stood until Sage Kimzey topped it in 2017. “It was unbelievable, it reminded me of back when Jim Sharp would ride,” said Austin’s friend Bandy Starkes. “A lot of people say Sage (Kimzey) reminds them of Matt. It was an unreal season – he was perfect. When Matt was riding his best and won the world, he was riding over 75 percent of his bulls that year. If Matt nodded his head, he was more than likely going to win the bull riding.” Starkes has known Austin since Austin was 12. They traveled together while Austin was on his permit, and now they work together at Vista Energy, a

Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in 2004-06. He won the world title in 2005 while setting a record for season earnings thanks to winning the average title at the Xtreme Bulls National Finals and being crowned the overall champion after a record-breaking five Xtreme Bulls Tour wins. “I set my mindset that I was going to win a world title and kept the mindset that I was in second place and needed some catching up to do,” Austin said. “I remember laying in the camper thinking this is too good to be true, this is like a fairy tale.” Austin made a promise to himself while attending the Wrangler NFR in 2003 to get his Rookie of the Year buckle. “I said I would never come back unless I made it,” Austin said. “I’ve always been a determined guy, and it was my goal and dream to go to the NFR and be a world champion.” That determination paid off repeatedly. “Every year I set a goal and the Lord blessed me to achieve my goal,” Austin said. “It was a dream come true and an experience I think about every day. I wake up every morning and think I need to go to a rodeo and tell myself

ProRodeo Sports News 10/5/2018

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