Graham bullfighter honored by Texas legislators

By Ted Harbin
Posted Thursday, April 9, 2009

GRAHAM, Texas – Legend has it that Texans are a tough lot who fight through adversity.

You can count Jay Brewer among the Texas legends.

Brewer, a bullfighter from Graham, battled a torn knee ligament and the odds when he continued to compete at the Professional Bullfighters Daisy Protection Bullfight World Championships earlier this year in Odessa, Texas. In fact, he was selected by his fellow competitors as the Daisy “Take Aim at Safety” Most Valuable Player for the event, which took place in conjunction with the SandHills Stock Show and Rodeo.

And for that, the Texas House of Representatives honored the cowboy with a resolution tribute, HR-911, sponsored by Rep. Rick Hardcastle, R-Vernon, and presented to Brewer on March 26 at the capitol in Austin.

“I was really surprised,” said Brewer, 31, one of 10 of the best bullfighters in the world who were part of the championships in Odessa. “It was just cool to be recognized at that level.”

In the resolution, Hardcastle wrote that Brewer demonstrated “an extraordinary determination when he persevered to finish the competition despite serious injuries.” Brewer, who had torn the anterior cruciate ligament about a month before the finals, reinjured the knee in his first fight of the competition.

He and partner Steve Wangler of Plainview, Neb., went into the championship with the lead in the standings after putting together a stellar 2008 campaign. But Brewer’s injury opened the door for eventual champions, Dusty Tuckness and Andy Burelle.

“… With his performance at the world championships, Jay Brewer has proven himself to have the heart of a champion and the grit of a cowboy in the finest Texas tradition,” the resolution states.

And the best part? It was all a surprise to Brewer up until the resolution was read before the entire House.

“Representative Hardcastle is our representative for our district, and he apparently read an article about it in the Graham paper,” said Brewer, who also works at the Wildcatter Ranch near Graham. “His assistant went through the Wildcatter here, and they told me I was going down to Austin for a hotel convention.

“I was actually trying to get out of it, but nobody wanted to go in my place. Of course, they all knew what was going on.”

So did his family, who were on hand to witness the ceremony.

“You don’t expect the House of Representatives to know anything about the sport of bull riding, especially bullfighting,” said Brewer, who had surgery to repair the injury Jan. 27 in Dallas. “Winning the MVP at our world championships was just an honor, for my fellow bullfighters to honor me that way. The resolution says something about grit and determination … I guess that’s why I was voted the MVP, because I obviously didn’t win it the way I fought bulls.”

But that’s not how everyone else in the arena saw it.

“It makes me proud that one of the athletes of the Professional Bullfighters is recognized by the great state of Texas as not only being a great athlete but also being a great person,” said Jim McLain, president of the PBF. “Jay is a truly great individual in every sense of the word.”