STEPHENVILLE, Texas (August 3, 2010) - Retirement is a tough prospect for professional athletes.
On a day when NFL beat writers are speculating about the future of Brett Favre, nine-time World Champion Ty Murray reflected on the topic as it relates to professional bull riders.
“It’s different for everybody,” he said is his weekly Podcast. “For me, when [bull riding] was no longer something I just thought about every day without trying to, that’s when I knew it was time for me to retire.”
Murray explained that after breaking Larry Mahan’s record of six all-around titles, he “felt like a hamster on wheel,” and no longer felt motivated to travel the rodeo circuit, so he focused his attention on the emergence of the PBR.
But a few years later, in the bucking chute in Billings, Mont., he sat with an injury that kept him from closing his hand. He was, as he put it, “pretty beat up.”
“I thought, ‘What am I doing out here?’” recalled Murray. He promptly announced his retirement from the sport that had dominated his life since he was 2 years old.
This is the time of the year – eight months into a 10-month-long season – when riders begin to question their commitment.
In bull riding, anyone over 30 is considered old, and there are a handful of riders on the BFTS who have now reached that mark..
Valdiron de Oliveira, who is ranked third in the standings and contending for his first world title, turned 31 last June. Jody Newberry, who will turn 30 in November, is 15th in the world.
Wiley Petersen, who at 31 injured his left knee earlier this year, has said he will likely call it a career after another season or two.
Ross Coleman and Chris Shivers have labored through the past few seasons and have experienced difficulty in staying healthy.
“It seems like things change when you’re married and have kids,” said Murray of the two. “It’s not for me to say.
“They’ve both had amazing careers, they both had good long careers and they both have gotten through their careers without really any catastrophic injuries.”
Other veteran riders who will have to make the decision soon are Ednei Caminhas, Colby Yates, Zack Brown and Brendon Clark. Clark turns 30 prior to the World Finals.
Caminhas, 34, is 31st in the world standings, but with barely $11,000 in winnings is 93rd in the qualifier standings.
“You see it in all sports,” Murray explained, “and I don’t what it is, I don’t know if it’s all age or other priorities in your life or if it’s focus or what it is, but when you go from the best there is to borderline-going-to-make-the-Finals, personally I don’t want to do that.
“I don’t want to be that guy, and every guy is different, and to each his own.”
“If a guy still loves it and still wants to do it, that’s his prerogative,” Murray added, “but I didn’t want to be a guy who everybody said, ‘He should have quit a long time ago.’”
Listen to the rest of Murray’s Podcast here.
